On our dining room floor!
Iām fortunate to have a root cellar that I have repurposed.
I used Vinicase (vinis.fr) to line the walls; below is an example, itās not my cellar but you get the idea. Sadly Iām not drinking it fast enough as Iām storing cases on the floor.
Iām sure you could get help to empty it.
I agree a dreadful dilemmaā¦its what the forum is forā¦helping one anotherš
Whereās Phil (@Filipe) when I need a drinking companion?
I gather that there are other Naimites in the Cotswolds but none have shown up on my doorstep.
Wine that I buy en primeur from the Wine Society, I keep at the WS at its Stevenage depot. You pay an annual fee but wine is kept at perfect temperature and humidity. I then withdraw from the reserves when the wine is ready
Donāt spend as much time on the forum so I missed the invite! Donāt drink much these days either!
Phil
Glad you are keeping busy, and I hope well.
Iām off to see your friends at Cymbiosis for a 2nd hand LP12 as I have uncovered my old vinyl collection.
Aside from a 5ft by 2ft rack built as pert of the kitchen cupboards, I use the under-cupboard space: the plinth fronts are held on with clips, easily popped off, giving a total run of about 25ft, two bottles high (staggered): most constant temp in the house, relatively cool, and dark. place in the house, otherwise with no use. Did same in previous house.
I spent a week in Ilmington only 2 weeks ago, but as you saw our empties from the trip on another thread youāll realise we probably wouldnāt have been able to help much.
Back on topic, I have a Eurocave wine fridge which holds about 150 bottles, I only have about 60 in . Thatās a hangover from my time living in a flat in London. My house has a cellar, unlike other people here I donāt have proper shelving, lots of cardboard and wooden cases. I used lockdown to reorganise and catalogue the wines. so I now have a spreadsheet and PowerPoint of the case locations and contents.
I find those considerably more aesthetically pleasing than many high-end systems!
Iām currently trying to choose a small-ish wine cooler, having recently noticed how much white wine improves when itās just a few degrees above normal fridge temperature, and how reds benefit from being a few degrees below normal room temperature.
Iāve struggled to find any that are the right size, type and price but the admirably clearly-named Wine Storage Companyās website has been very helpful and may well be where I eventually purchase from. Might be worth a look.
Mark
My 20 year old 552/500 serviced 3 years ago is sounding better and better and really developing like a vintage bottle of wine. What you heard nearly 16 months ago was muscle without control. Now I have both.
Itās seems a power down for thunder refreshes it after a week of returning to being powered. Patience is a virtue.
Not sure whether to scratch any HiFi itches myself. A Rega Aura might tempt, but even the Aria has got the uplift. Hope you have a good trip. Iād join you but for the virus.
Phil
I have a wine cooler that holds 200 bottles which is full. Iāve spent the last 6 years selecting appropriate wines that will age well, and getting them catalogued. Itās been a super hobby, almost as much fun and certainly as rewarding as my audio passion.
I buy carefully researched affordable wines, and then age them for 5 to 8 years, and they are absolutely delicious when decanted properly, served with the right food, an at the right temperature.
I recently picked up another 80 bottle cooler through an online auction, like a Danby but a grade up, for $70. A real steal.
In Canada, I pay from 18 to 25 dollars a bottle. But by the time I open it, it has the taste of a much more expensive bottle. I have a few special, Quintarelliās, Penfoldās, and Chateau this or that, that I paid dearly for, but mostly Iām cheap about it.
I want to drink $60 wine, that I only paid $20 for.
And there are hardly any wines on the shelves at the Ontario Liquor stores that are actually ready to drink. Just try setting one aside for even a year and it makes quite a difference.
People will go in and buy a 4 year old bottle for $60 and take it home and pop the cork, and drink a highly tannic, overly tart, unresolved wine; and they would have been much better off drinking a $20 bottle that was already near itās peak at 4 or 5 years. Usually, the more one pays for a wine, the longer it needs to age. Not always the case though.
Anyway, my wife and I are just getting into the first year of nicely-aged wines, and they are mostly excellent. I say mostly because not all of them age as well as one thinks they will.
Also btw, as other posters have mentioned, any dark place like under the stairs, or a slightly cooler closet is great for storing wines. Temp fluctuation is more of an issue than the temp itself. A 10 degree range is fine, like 65 to 75 degrees. It will just age a little faster which is no problem.
Cheers.
Dave
Youāre a man after my own heart David. Many less illustrious wines costing perhaps 25% of the big brother wine can offer 90% of the quality eg a cotes du rhone vs a chateau Neuf du pape. Most of my cellar like yours is affordable, and these days the quality second wines is very good indeed. It is just a matter of having a place to store them until they come on song. I use a wine fridge that holds about 150 bottles and it does the job quite well.
Some greatest hits reasonable priced wines that can age well are, to name a few:
Clare valley rieslings
Cotes du rhone from good producers eg guigal, Tinel, Beaucastel
Barbera from Vajra
Hawkeās bay Cabernet from Trinity hill
Shiraz from good Australian producers
Chenin Blanc from South Africa
Cabernet franc from Loire eg Yannik Amirault
Party @ Hughs people
That is very interesting Hugh. Youāre the first collector Iāve met with the same goal to wine enjoyment.
When I come across a well recommended wine that is $20 cad, Iāll get 3 bottles so I can try it at 4,5 and 6 years and see how it changes.
Itās really funny sometimes Iāll try it at 3 years, and say, man, I wasted my money on this plonk. But then Iāll have the second bottle at 5 or 6 years, and itās excellent and everyone loves it.
And yes, for me itās always languedoc-roussillon before C-d-Pape. And I wish the the Cotes dāor wines like the Cotes du Nuits and Saint George, were less expensive. I know some of them are fantastic.
And I love the SA Chenin Blancs. Iāve aged a few from Stellenbosch, and after 3 -5 years, they are wonderful. (Iām running out of superlatives here).
The Hunter Valley Semillon whites will age for a very long time, and are very good.
I have a few of the wines on your list already, but Iāll look up the others.
My youngest daughter just finished a 2 year work visa in NZ with her fiance, and they worked at a few of the wineries. One of them was in the far north of the North island, and she brought me back a bottle of one of their better selections. Itās still in the cooler and should be ready in a few years.
I enjoy the wines of NZ, and particularly the Pinot Noirs.
My wife and I found that the hardest part of starting a wine cellar, is staying the he** out of them for the first five years while they age. I actually had to keep a revolving secondary group of 1 to 2 year agers that we could consume while the first years selections came to fruition.
Drinking wine has become so much more enjoyable and interesting since we took the hit to build a collection.
Anyway ā¦ Cheers!
Dave
everyday wine in the garage in a rack for ease of selection - fridge for the whites in the summer, I am more than happy to drink red slightly chilled depending on the grape (certainly in the summer)
you can spend Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£ on pounds on shelving and fridges but ideally away from light and major temp variations is best - cool and dark being ideal, I recently purchased a replacement wine fridge which was under Ā£200 which is more than OK
unless you are a serious collector ease of storage is best - I have a drinking rack for every day wines and a seperate shelving system for wines I am keeping
most of the time in the UK we drink our whites too cool and redās to warm, but itās a personel choice - what I would also recomend is a good glass, it wonāt make a bad wine better, but will show a good wines full potencial