What are wine racks and why is it so important to have them?

Wine Blog
May 28, 2022
10 Min.

Let’s see that wine racks ate artifacts that you must have at your fingertips, if, first, you are a lover of good wine, and, then you want to have the wine in the best conditions, preserving all its properties and flavor, helping even, to improve what it has to offer.

In this article we will go deep into the world of wine, as we will explain not only how you should store wine in wine racks, but we will also discuss some interesting details about these wine racks that you should definitely know and have on hand.

What are wine racks?

Surely you already know what wine racks are, or even know them as wine racks, but beyond this, it is worth saying that they are a set of small shelves, in which you can store wine in an organized way, the wine in your cellar.

We will see that the wine racks can be designed from various materials, in turn, depending on the number of bottles of wine you plan to store, it may be interesting to opt for a smaller or larger shelf, which has capacity for more or less number of bottles.

Types of wine racks: Which one should I choose?

If you have some experience or have been immersed in the world of wine for some time, you will have already noticed that this is a very complex subject.

There is a whole ritual to follow in the way it is served, as well as in the whole process to cultivate the vine, and of course, in the way to store it and the ideal wine rack for your use.

Now we will help you by explaining the different kind of wine racks and which one can be the best for you.

Wall wine racks

Wall wine racks are basically furniture that have the function of storing your wine bottles, and if you have any visitors, these will serve to expose them to your visitors as a very special presentation.

These wine racks are smaller, and most importantly, if you want to be more practical, they will hardly take up any space, especially if they are in your kitchen area, where you are always in constant movement when preparing your food.

In that sense, you can find in the market an endless number of designs of wall wine racks, which you will find in creative designs, others more elegant and sober, but, undoubtedly, are designs that will add personality to the environment where you place them.

These wine racks will be ideal for you if you usually have a certain amount of bottles, as they are wine racks with a remarkable capacity, although it is true that it will depend on the design you have chosen.

Refrigerated wine racks

This is a type of wine racks that are specially designed for storing high quality wines, in fact, they are very similar to the specific refrigerators for storing wine in warehouses.

In this type of racks, you will have several sections, and this will allow you to store the wine at ideal temperatures. In addition, they are the ideal wine racks to store wine for years if you wish.

Rustic wine racks

It is a type of wine racks that undoubtedly have a life of their own, with a stately and wild design, accompanied by a high quality solid wood, this type of wine racks will not only decorate your home, but also have great capacity to store your wine bottles, so if you are a collector, or want to try several kinds of wine, this wine rack is for you, the ideal one.

A quite peculiar use that is given to this type of wine racks, is to have several categories, ie, separate your wines of high, medium and low category in an orderly manner.

Stackable wine racks

If the case is that you do not have much space at home, stackable wine racks are your best option, and its ability to stack on top of each other, do not take up much space in the area available for this.

So you can play with the number of bottles you store, because you have the option of stacking between them a form of small shelves. At the same time, you can find them made of wood, as always, or even metal or other materials.

Why using a wine rack is the best alternative?

If you want a correct maturation of the wines, it is important to use a wine rack, since, within its capacity, it will take care of the aforementioned points of temperature, light and humidity. Remember that drinking a good wine is something you have the right to and should not be a luxury.

On the other hand, a wine rack will keep the bottles in the right position, and its design, which is usually very stable, will avoid such negative movement for the quality of the wine.

It is for this reason that the use of a wine rack is more than necessary, and you as a good wine lover that you are, you do everything possible to maintain its quality, and for this these equipments are necessary. Although in the next point we will talk more in detail about the benefits of a wine rack in your home.

Advantages that everyone gets from a wine rack

We all know that wine racks are great for maintaining wine quality and being able to store lots of bottles, but what’s beyond that? That is why we are going to show you how you will benefit from having your own wine rack:

For sure, you will be able to properly organize your wines and have easy access to use them on every occasion that warrants it.
This will allow you to place the bottles at a perfect angle to preserve the cork’s moisture and keep the wine’s flavor intact.
You will have at your disposal in the market, all kinds of sizes that can be adapted to any space, plus each one will add to the place where they are, a better appearance.
This system takes care of your pocket, because it will cost you less money than paying for a traditional wine cellar or refrigerator.
These shelves don’t require any maintenance or electrical service.
Any space you prepare for a wine rack will do, so you don’t have to choose an exclusive room to keep your bottles.
Now we know that a wine rack will help you to preserve your bottles over time, so if you want to make an investment in quantity of wine, these wine racks will be your best choice.

How to store wine? Why is a wine rack the best for this purpose?

You can keep your wine for a long time, but in addition to the necessary tools, it is important that you take the necessary steps to do so.

A wine rack is the best option to store wine in your own home, because the following guidelines will be applied in a practical and comfortable way for your convenience.

Humidity

The presence of humidity in the wine environment is important, but avoids strong odors and the presence of electrical appliances that may interfere with the storage and maturation process.

Movements

Wine bottles should not be moved; the less they are moved, the less risk of spoilage. This applies especially with aged wines, so there is nothing better than a wine rack to store them.

Light

If you want to store your wine cookies, you can do it without any problem, but if you store them well, they can be kept for up to two weeks without being damaged.

Of course, you should store them in a glass jar or a tin box, keeping it somewhere cool in the house.

Ventilation

The presence of humidity must be present in the conservation of the wine and the cork itself, but if this is not well managed, it can bring bad odors due to mold, which is why placing the wine rack in ventilated places is essential for its good conservation.

Temperature

The wine should be at a temperature between 5ºC and 18ºC, but it is between 10ºC and 12ºC the optimum point that you should always look for.

You should make sure that the temperature remains constant, as changes are not your wine’s best friend. Of course, changes in temperature due to the time of year will not be a danger, the problem is when the variations are very variable.

These factors can be handled very well by a wine rack, and best of all, you can have it at home and without paying exaggerated amounts of money.

Can I use wine racks for other purposes?

Of course you can and the answer is yes, it is that, although it may surprise you, you can use your wine rack in another way. However, today the main use you can give it, is in terms of decoration and elegance in your home.

You are probably breaking the rules by placing other things on a wine rack than your bottles. But let me tell you that this trend is changing, and you have many options for reusing your wine rack in the home.

There are many sensible ways for you to make use of this type of artifact, where it will not only serve to better manage the space in your home, but also to make it look better and more functional.

Among the ways to use a wine rack, in addition to storing wine, include:

Comfortable smaller towel rack.

This equipment looks great as a table towel rack, and especially for storing hand towels, it is quite an attractive option even.

Larger towel rack

For storing bathroom linens, if you are a lover of order, you can use a wine rack as a means of distributing your bathroom supplies, as you have space to store large towels, small towels, and even some other tools that you can use at bath time, for example.

Towel rack table wrapper

Sometimes we quickly store our wrapping equipment on top of some cabinet anywhere in the house, either in a bag stored anywhere in the house, but this can certainly change if you arrange it.

When you do not know what to do with your old wine rack you can turn it into some wrapping station, which will be ready to use in its spaces all kinds of ribbons, bows, paper and even some labels. In short, you have plenty of space to store whatever you want in a piece of furniture like this.

Store your shoes there quickly

Well, if you do not have or if you do not want to keep your bottles in your old wine rack, do not give so many turns to your head, and is that you can have an elegant shelf in which you can store your new shoes, and if you are one of those who keeps his shoes with his box, then you have found the ideal place for your shoes do not occupy an uncomfortable place, if you lack a shoe rack.

Rack for wine boxes

We have spoken for now that you can store implements outside the wine, and is that you can quickly store your wine boxes there without any problem, although a box containing any object that you do not want to put elsewhere, in your wine rack will look great too.

Wine bottle rack as a tower for CD's

Now we will make a radical change, because it will no longer be our wine rack that we are going to recycle, rather we will do it with that CD tower that we will use as if it were a wine rack, and it is that it is shown as an interesting way to recycle.

There are many options to give a different use to your wine rack, and is that you have available small shelves that will help you get rid of those objects that take up unnecessary space at home, because while you put them in a device that distributes them intelligently, it brings to your home that point of unique and personal decoration.

Whenever you can keep in your wine racks many bottles waiting to be consumed, the better, because nothing like that elegant and high-class look that gives a wine rack full of wine bottles exactly.

Do I choose a wine cooler or wine rack?

You have many options available to store your wine, on the one hand, there are those who prioritize keeping the wines fresh and with a fairly fair temperature to taste the drink when they are going to be served. On the other hand, other people like to consider factors such as space and cost, so they see wine racks as the best alternative to store them.

It is clear that both a wine cooler and a wine rack have their positive and negative aspects, and it will depend on the preferences of each person.

There are also some factors to take into account that can help you determine whether a wine cooler or a wine rack is better:

Beauty

In this aspect, a wine rack stands out more, since you have more options to choose models and materials. In addition, if you want to create a classic or traditional atmosphere to display your wine collection, a wine rack is ideal. We do not doubt that wine racks have their appeal, but in this sense they are not as attractive and functional as wine racks can be.

Climate control

Wine coolers can have more control in this sense, since they always keep the wines fresh by controlling the humidity and temperature in the place.

Apart from the ambient temperature, in a wine cooler the wines are protected from changes. In wine racks, you can maintain the quality of the wine. Likewise, if the space where the wine rack is kept is well conditioned, in the long run it can be more economical than the wine cellar.

Organization

Both wine coolers and wine racks share things in common, since they keep the wine bottles in an optimal position and in an orderly manner. If you opt for either option, you will be well supported in this point. Of course, when it comes to a wine rack everything will have a more sober look, perfect to show off with the visit, as it always gives some prestige.

Cost

As for the cost, wine racks are more economical, and although prices vary depending on the size, you can get a wine rack for a cost that is nowhere near the same as that of a wine refrigerator, as you can even find small wine racks at very low prices and still enjoy a lot of capacity, something that does not happen in the case of a wine cooler, as the cheapest ones have space for only a few bottles.

Size of your collection

At this point both storage alternatives will be ideal for you, only that, it is still a little above using a wine rack, because although you can choose a large wine cooler, a wine rack is functional, does not take up much space and you have multiple compartments to store your wine bottles.

I want to buy a wine rack, what should I consider?

We all know the importance of using a wine rack, and it is shown as a balance between price, capacity and beauty that adds to the space where it is located.

Therefore, to get a good wine rack we recommend you to follow these criteria:

Materials

As for the material of the wine rack, it is not only important for it to last over time, but also to provide the necessary strength to support your wine collection, since the bottles are heavy.

A wine rack must be firm, as we have already seen that repeated movements can affect the quality of the wine, and this will be affected both in the quality it offers and in its taste. This applies especially to white and aged wines. For this reason, it is essential to opt for a metal or solid wood wine rack, with tight bolts and a solid design in general…

Rack design

The horizontal position, with a slight inclination for wine bottles is essential, as this is how the cork will keep its humidity. For this reason, you should make sure that it has that inclination and also that it has the slots for the bottle to fit correctly and remain firm and in place.

Capacity

We ask you: Do you collect large quantities? Do you prefer to drink wine on an occasional basis? In both cases the capacity of a wine rack is essential, because depending on your goals you should choose a wine rack with more or less capacity, for example, if you are going to live with a considerable amount of bottles, opt for a larger design, it would be perfect.

Style

As for this factor, it is mostly related to your personal tastes, since you can choose between classic and modern, as the variety of models you can choose from is quite large. In that sense, you can evaluate the space where you are going to place your wine rack and see which style is the right one. However, the wine racks stand out for that stately look that can certainly look great in many rooms of the house.

Cost

Compared to a wine rack they are more economical, it is true that there are factors such as materials and the capacity of the wine rack that can make it have a higher cost. However, wine racks are very adaptable to any budget.

Other details

There are also factors that can add to a wine rack, such as the size they cover, if they have space to store other decorative objects, but all these additions will be of your very particular choice.

While the quality of the wine rack is essential, so is having a good wine in them, so we invite you to take a look at our wine catalog and get the best taste of good wine, which will remain in perfect condition in a wine rack, retaining its properties in aromas and flavors.