When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting it. Sometimes you become a member of a wine enthusiast club and now are acquiring rare wines. As your collection increases over time storing it can become a problem. A cabinet can really easily be transformed into a budget home wine cellar to age your growing collection.

As eager as you may be to start, don't skip the planning phase as it will help prevent heart ache later one. For instance where is the closet in relation to the rest of the house? Avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. As the outside walls are in direct contact with the weather the temperature levels are not consistent and change dramatically. Choose an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a more stable atmosphere.

Make sure your wine cellar has a steady temperature, this is of critical importance to correctly store/age your collection. You don't want a jump in temperature, but a slow rise or drop will not harm the wine. Over time, this can greatly damage the wine in the bottle. When the temperature flucuates wine becomes shocked, the rule is steady constant temperature with no or minimal variations.

It's easy to spot. Look for the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. The repeated changes in temperature of the wine will fragment the cork. This variation is like having a wine cork popped every single day. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork allowing air to seep back in. Your wine will quickly spoil once it mixes with oxygen. Your wine is ruined. For wine to develop fully it must age at the correct temperature. This is usually in the range of 53-58 degrees. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.

Add a good vapor barrier. Mold like the humid environments that are good for wine. Also keep in mind a more expensive wine cellar cooling unit for management of the temperature and humidity.

The designs are beautiful, no detail is left out. Carry that same dedication over to the next phase: wine cellar construction. Designing a wine cellar builds the value of your house! You will need to purchase a few essential items. Purchase some inexpensive wine racks from a hardware store or online retailer or storage shop. With some cheap racks you'll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar. Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density. Price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency. Individual racking is the most convenient for selecting bottles.

A great tip is to only put your wine racks on one side of the pantry. Then you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case. Building your own wine cellar at home isn't hard or pricey, and it can be a rewarding endevour. Let your wine speak for itself. However, if you don't have the space to spare, then we recommend the Cuisinart Dual Zone 15 Bottle Wine Cellar.

Now you can truly enjoy the luxury of owning your own wine cellar and aging your own wine!

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