Wines with screw caps are becoming more and more popular. Though some purists hold fast to the idea that corks are the only appropriate wine stoppers, several connoisseurs have been greatly pleased by the benefits of screw caps in recent years. Not only do screw caps allow for the tightest seal, they completely eliminate “cork taint” (TCA contamination) and oxidation...
I had a long conversation with a potential client who wanted to explore a new avenue to store his wine. He was a self-admitted, "not really into wine guy" but his father had given him 20 cases, some Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Cabs and Champagne. Over the past 2 years, the wine has taken up precious space in the garage. Immediately...
If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you might be ready to jump out of your seat. On Saturday (8/8/09) I came across and article in the LA Times Business section, “Plastic bottles aim to remold wine industry”. This article has brought up recent memories for the cork versus screw top debate. Now, no one who knows me would consider...
Let me start by asking you a simple question; how much do you spend on wine each year? For most people, the passion for wine starts with a bottle here and a bottle there. The next thing you know, you have a wine rack on the kitchen counter with 8 bottles. It might be time to start considering protecting the...
Building a personal custom wine cellar has increased in popularity in recent years, but so have wine storage facilities. There are many advantages to a storing your wine in such a facility, including 24 hour temperature monitoring, walk in or locker style storage and even pick up and delivery service. There are equally as many disadvantages that may accompany such...
For the wine consumer, the Great Cork Debate is nothing if not confusing. "Experts" sound off about the pros of one and cons of the other, often in complete contradiction with other "experts". It's easy to find yourself bewildered to immobility in the middle of a wine shop, a natural corked wine in your left hand, a synthetic corked...
Sure, you've heard that wine should always be stored on its side. But grocery stores and even many wine shops display their bottles upright. The bottle is meant to stand that way for a reason, right? Wrong. Storing wine in the vertical position, especially if you're trying to age it, is a big mistake that can ruin your wine. Here's...
If you're just starting out collecting wine, you probably find wine labels more than a little daunting. How do you pick through all the fine print and strange words to get the information you need? What's just advertising and what's useful to know? Although every wine bottle is different, and labeling practices differ between countries and even wineries, there is...
Do you have aspirations to build a great wine collection but don't know where to start? Have you collected a few bottles but are unsure about how to build what you have into a cohesive collection? Here are some tips and hints to help you out. The best way to start is to educate yourself. Before you're ready to spend...
We know that wine has to be kept at a low temperature in order to age well. It’s logical—we keep our perishable items cool so that they don’t spoil as quickly, and wine is, of course, a perishable item. But what’s with the humidity thing? Does wine really need to be kept at a certain level of humidity in order...
You love wine. You spend a lot of time drinking it, thinking about it, and buying it. You’d love to start a real collection rather than stashing the bottle haphazardly on a rack in your kitchen, but you live in a small loft apartment. There’s hardly enough room for your stuff, let alone enough empty space for a wine cellar...
1. If the conditions aren’t right, the wine will rot. There’s nothing worse than opening a bottle after years of storage, only to discover that instead of aging gracefully, it’s turned to vinegar. Keep the temperature of your wine cellar, wine refrigerator, wine closet, or wine cabinet between 50 and 65 degrees F for red wine and 45 to 60...
Here's a handy cheat sheet to help you remember what's essential to storing and aging your wine properly. 1. Keep your wine storage area--whether cabinet, cellar, or refrigerator, cool. Between 55 and 57° F is perfect. This temperature lets some chemical reactions--the kind that improve the wine--happen, while keeping other harmful reactions at bay. 2. Keep it humid--between 50 and 80% humidity. ...
These Diamond Cube wine racks. You can stack them to fit your space perfectly, and the shape is so unique and cool. 2. This Vinotheque Wine Credenza. It's a beautiful place to display your family photos, it's a buffet table, and it's top-of-the-line, climate-controlled wine cabinet. 3. This 8-bottle Monterey WineKeeper system. Ok, so you'd probably have to be a...
Some VERY old bottles. Let's hope they have what it takes to open up well! Aging a bottle of wine has a very distinct, qualitative effect on the contents. But it's a very unpredictable effect. This leaves wine aficionados in a rough place--you don't want to spend the time and the money aging a nice bottle of wine, only to open...
If you have a growing wine collection, there's one thing you can't do without: a system for keeping track of your bottles. Ok, you need a proper storage space and a climate-controlled environment too, but once you have those things, organization really is essential. If you don't know what's in your cellar, your collection can quickly turn into chaos. Keeping...
Since our post on 3 Android Apps for Wine Lovers is so popular, and more apps are coming out for Android all the time, we figured we'd showcase a few more! Wine Dictionary: Even expert collectors occasionally run across a wine descriptor they've never seen before. This wine glossary app isn't fancy, but it does the job: whether you're in...
The eSommelier touchscreen computer and barcode scanner & printer We've talked before about eSommelier wine management systems, a fabulous barcode-based computerized organization system for wine cellars, but they have recently announced some upgrades that really kick up the value of this product. One of those new features is the iPad access. eSommelier has optimized their web access for the...
Wine collectors used to have to settle for a cellar. They had to leave the temperature and humidity up to nature, and as a result, they'd often end up with mold-covered corks and bad bottles. But the modern wine collector doesn't face these same challenges. Available to him are sophisticated tools to help ensure that his wine collection ages to...
Have a question about how wine cooling systems work? Wondering about the similarities and differences between various wine racks and wine racking kits? Need help choosing the right wine cabinet for your needs and living space? Perhaps you simply want to learn more about how wine preservation systems work to keep your open bottles as fresh as possible? Now is...
Vintage Cellars started building custom wine cellars in 1990. Based in San Macros, California, we have built custom wine cellars throughout the United States.
Our wine cellar design experts are waiting to turn your custom wine cellar dream into a reality. Tell us the style, size, budget, and other details and we will design a custom wine cellar for you.