Completely Biased

California’s heatwave is driving me insane.  Sure, I can hop in the pool to escape from the sweltering heat, but what about my delicious bottles of syrah?  How am I going to prevent the heat from turning what would be a symphony of scents and flovers into an offensive assault on my mouth?  A wine cellar you say?  Great idea.

But what about space?  How ever will I have room for a wine cellar?  A tabletop cellar?  Do tell.

Danby Black 17-Bottle Wine Cooler $99.99

A tabletop wine cellar for less than $100?  And if you spend a total of $125 in kitchen and housewares you get $25 off your order.  It’s like getting a free set of Reidel glasses.

Don’t confuse this model with the Haier wine cellars that are notorious for being too large for too little storage and for plain simply not working.

Storage for 17 bottles isn’t enough you say?  You enophile you.  Unfortunately, I can’t in good conscience recommend any cellars beyond the 17 bottle mark because they seem to have habit of not keeping stable temperatures throughout the cooler.  If you’re on the market to find your own larger cooler though, keep in mind a few key things.

1. Temperature control:  Wine needs a constant temperature to mature properly. The optimum tempertaure is 50 to 55 degrees farenheit.  Some people say that any constant temperature between 40-65 degreeds farenheit will do.  Good temperatures to chill wine at are as follows:

Red wine: 55-60°F / 12.7-15.5°C
White wine: 49-56°F / 9.5-13.3°C
Rosé wine: 49-51°F / 9.5-10.5°C

2. Humidity: Moderate humidity at around 70% is ideal to keep the corks in good condition.  Drop anywhere below 50% and you risk the corks drying out and letting air into your bottles.

3. Light:  If you’re going to be keeping your cellar in a dark place, no worries.  But if you’re going to have your cellar holding your dear wine bottles in a lit area, make sure there is a UV filter.  LIght in general can cause a wine to mature too quickly and can give it an unpleasant smell.

4. Movement:  Wine doesn’t like vibrations or movement.  You should plan, once you set a bottle down for storage, not to have to move it again until you’re going to drink it. Make sure that the cellar, or the area that the cellar is stored in is not subject to vibrations because it will disturb the sediments in the wine which could ruin the bottle.

Why bother buying a cellar?  Why not build one yourself?

The Home Wine Cellar: A Complete Guide To Design And Construction (Hardcover) $22.50 

Oh right, that whole space issue.