As more and more people are cultivating a strong interest in wine, wine storage refrigerators have come to fill the need for wine storage at optimal temperatures. Many of us do not have the space, money, or expertise to build a walk-in wine cellar. Wine storage refrigerators therefore make the ideal solution.

There is now a huge range of wine storage refrigerators or wine caves, as they are sometimes called. You can easily find a wine storage refrigerator that meets your wine capacity and budget needs.

Buying Wine Storage Refrigerators – Factors To Consider

1) Types Of Wine You Plan To Store In Your Wine Storage Refrigerator

If you drink both red and white wine, you could consider buying a dual zone wine storage refrigerator. See pictures below.

Alternatively, you could purchase two wine storage refrigerators – one for your red wines, one for white wines. This way, you can separately control the serving temperatures of your red and white wines.

2) Vibration Control Feature In Wine Storage Refrigerators

Depending on the length of time, and the quality of wine you will be storing, you will want to ensure that the wine storage refrigerator that you are purchasing has the vibration control feature. As you know, strong vibration will severely hinder the proper aging of wine.

3) Humidity

Another factor is humidity. The better wine storage refrigerators have the ability to maintain the proper humidity level inside the unit and still circulate the air enough to discourage mold and mildew.

4) Fluctuating Temperature

The better wine storage refrigerators, such as Eurocave or Haier, also have more insulation and specially treated glass panes to help maintain a constant temperature. This is especially useful if the wine storage refrigerator is placed where the temperature will fluctuate a great deal (such as in the garage). Purchasing a well-insulated wine storage refrigerator is close to having a personal wine cellar to house your wine collection.

5) Décor

Take into account the décor of the place where you plan to place the wine refrigerator. Will the unit be a built-in unit or will it be free standing? You should choose a wine storage refrigerator with decorative features that will complement, and not detract from, the décor and furniture in the place where the wine storage refrigerator will be placed. Wine storage refrigerators can be fitted with credenzas and other decorative features for that added flexibility to enable you to place them anywhere in your home. Some wine storage refrigerators are so beautifully built that they look like furniture that blends wonderfully with the surrounding décor in your home as shown by the picture below.

High quality wine storage refrigerators are also very quiet and help cut down vibration due to noise, which is conducive to wine storage.

6) Size Of Wine Collection, Number and Size of Wine Bottles To Store

It is best to select a wine storage refrigerator with a capacity that is 25% to 30% larger than your current wine collection. If you have some extra budget, get a wine storage refrigerator with the maximum capacity that you can afford. This is because when there is a wine sale, we tend to purchase more bottles of wine than expected!

If you plan to drink Champagne or wine in non-standard sized bottles, you’ll also need to ensure that your wine storage refrigerator has sufficient adjustable shelves.

With the above factors taken into consideration, you will very likely be able to select a wine storage refrigerator that meets your needs.

For additional free tips on wine storage, please go to wine storage tips.

I developed an eBook of wine rack plans and step-by-step instructions on how to build a wine rack in under 4 hours. This eBook is available at http://www.howtomakeawinerack.com

My eBook essentially includes 12 wine rack plans and more than twenty design ideas. There are tips on how you can easily customize the wood wine rack plans to suit your own needs.

I have had email enquiries about how the wine racks would look like. I am therefore posting pictures of the wine racks for you to preview before deciding whether to purchase my eBook.

Hope this helps in your buying decision.

Have a great day!

Every homeowner will have his or her preferred area in the home to place his or her own wine collection. Sometimes the designated space may be limited or have its own unique characteristics. We may therefore be required to develop our own custom wine rack plans to build wine racks that will display our wine collection in such a limited or defined space.

Just how do you develop your own custom wine rack plans? Here are seven easy steps:

1) Choose a spot which is not subject to severe temperature fluctuations, excessive light and humidity to place your wine rack.

2) Measure the space you wish to rack. The size of the space will determine how many bottles you can store. For example, a 5-foot by 5-foot space with a 7-foot ceiling will hold about 540 bottles. If you require space for a cooling unit, be sure to allocate some space and budget for it as well.

3) Allow a depth of 13.5 inches for the depth of each wine rack and the bottles being stored in it.

4) Make sure that there are no visible obstructions on the wall or on the floor such light switches, pipes, cables and so on. Also ensure that you are not going to damage any water pipes or electric cables when doing any drilling. Check the route of the area to be racked. Ensure that there will be no problems with access such as stairways, narrow doorways and so on.

5) Determine if your wine rack is intended to be a showcase or is it for storage. Decide on the exact or likely items to be stored.

6) Determine if your wine collection is constant or growing. Allocate at least 30% more space for expansion purposes.

7) Determine if you have any odd-sized bottles that you want to store. Take note of their dimensions. If you wish to store wine cases and wine glasses, take note of their dimensions and numbers too.

Based on above steps, you should be able to determine the type of wine rack plans you should be working on. For example, would it be a wine rack cabinet, wall mounted wine rack, modular wine rack, floor wine rack and so on?

After you have decided which type of wine rack you want, look for detailed wine rack plans for these types of wine racks. Based on the numbers and measurements you have gathered from the steps above, you’ll be able to determine how the wine rack plan needs to be customized to suit your own needs.

Visit wine rack plans to learn how you can build a wine rack in less than four hours by choosing from twelve wine rack plans and more than twenty wine rack designs! Sign up for free to a 4-part wine rack building mini-course plus one free wine rack plan worth $37. Read additional wine tips and wine news for free at wine articles.

Easter is just round the corner again. Not sure what to buy your friends or loved ones this Easter? Why not give an Easter wine gift basket? An Easter wine gift basket is definitely a crowd pleaser, and can be ordered from the comfort of your home.

You can order a readily packaged Easter wine gift basket that comes with Easter goodies and wines to go with the goodies. Alternatively, if you have some spare time and would like to add a personal touch to your Easter wine gift, you can easily assemble your own Easter wine gift basket. You just have to think about the kinds of festive food and goodies that are typically served during Easter and you can start planning your Easter wine gift basket.

For example, if you are planning on an Easter chocolate and wine gift basket, you can easily package it with Easter bunnies, Easter eggs and wine. For chocolate goodies made from white and milk chocolate, you can pair it with light Muscat wines like Beaumes de Venise or St Jean de Minervois or even California Orange Muscat. Or you can even consider Sparkling Muscats like Moscato d’Asti too.

For dark chocolate, you can pair it with sweet red wines like Banyuls or Maury from the south of France. Californian Black Muscat or Greek Mavrodaphne will go wonderfully with bitter chocolate in your Easter wine gift basket.

What about mocha? A five-year or older French red wine like Banyuls and Maury will do just fine.

More food and wine pairing tips that you can use when for choosing Easter wine gift baskets:

1) Baked Ham
White wine lovers can go for a lightly oaked Chardonnay or Pinot Blanc. Red wine lovers can pair the ham with Beaujolais-Villages, Loire reds like Chinon or Anjou-Villages, Burgundy (Givry) or New World Pinot Noir.

2) Baked Ham With Pineapple
Try sweet white wines like Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, Riesling Spätlese or Riesling VT.

3) Any Chocolate dessert or snack with Caramel
I recommend the Portuguese Moscatel de Setubal to go with both Chocolate and Caramel.

4) Desserts or snacks made with chocolate and fruit
Gewurztraminer vendages tardives, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, dry red wines such as Bordeaux wines such as St-Julien or Côtes du Rhone.

For more free information on wine gifts, check out the following links:
Wine Gifts
Unique Wine Gifts
Personalized Wine Gifts
Wedding Wine Gifts
Wine Gift Baskets
Wine Country Gift Baskets
Wine Related Gifts
Gifts For Wine Lovers

Feel free to try out the above tips and do let me know how you feel in the comment box. Have a great day!

I will be following up with new posts featuring some of my favorite recipes and wine pairing tips.

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