A closet or cupboard can easily be turned into a mini wine cellar to store your growing wine collection.

Before you begin building your mini wine closet consider the position of the closet in relation to the rest of the house or apartment.

If possible, avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. The outside walls of your abode can be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature from season to season. If at all possible, choose an internal closet where the temperature is likely to remain more constant.

The speed and degree of any temperature changes are critical in successfully storing and aging wine. A gradual change of a few degrees between from winter to summer won’t matter. A similar change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly.

The most important rule when you are storing your wine is to avoid large temperature fluctuations. You’ll notice damage of this type immediately from the stickiness that will often form around the capsule. Over time, the continued expansion then contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. It’s just like having the cork removed and replaced every day. When this happens, very small quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork allowing air to seep back in. Once air comes into contact with your wine the process of oxidation begins and your wine will be ruined.

At 55º to 58ºF the wine will age gracefully, enabling it to fully develop as the winemaker intended. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. The damage done to your wine will be irreversible if it is stored at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.

Maybe the hardest part of building a wine cellar closet is finding other locations to store what is already in the closet!! Don’t hesitate … remove all the present contents (move them elsewhere / give away / auction them) and start out with an empty closet!

Purchase inexpensive wine racks from an online retailer, hardware store or storage shop and you’ll have a simple but effective mini wine cellar.

Wine rack designs vary in the number of bottles they can carry; price variations have less to do with efficiency and more to do with aesthetics.

Individual racking makes bottle selection easy. If you place racks against only one wall of the closet there may still be floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case.

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