bottled, need storage device.

[jcnoren]

require suggestions for an inexpensive way/device to hold my wine bottles...now that they are supposed to be on their sides.





JCEdited by: jcnoren

 

[jojo]

i have no rack - yet. iuse old wine boxes from V. Sattui tilted on their side against the cement wall in the basement. i hear milk crates work. i want to build a diamond rack this winter.

 

[MedPretzel]

Okay, here's my idea, which I used, and it hasn't broken yet...


I had an old bookshelf. I took the shelves out, and made an "X" with some old boards I had. There was one long board, which I cut to fit diagonally. I had two others, which I cut to fit. I fitted the two short ones to the middle of the long one, and fastened them with 2 L-brackets for stability. I put the "X" into the bookshelf and screwed them from the outside to stabilize them. From the back, I also screwed it, so that it doesn't sag.


Then I painted the whole thing, and , like I said, it works. I also did another one with 2x4's which is a disaster. It's a big balancing act. I'd stick with the boards that have more surface contact...


Here's a pic.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Ingenuity, as Martina shows, can probably help you devise a number of
different solutions. Being rather lazy, I looked for something that I wouldn't
have to put together too much. As jojo mentioned, I figured that those
plastic 4-gallon milk crates on their sides would be just about right and they
stack nicely. Each one holds 15-16 bottles I think. They're down in my cool
crawl space.

BillEdited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[darrenlm]

I foresee myself having the same issue. I have a kit bottled right now and I have the bottles in the cardboard boxthey came in and just wrote the name of the wine on the side of the box. The cardboard boxes stack nicely and dont take up much room. Martina's idea obivously is more eye appealing, and sturdy than a cardboard box with sharpie writing on it but I havent gotten around to planning out anything permanemt yet.

 

[MedPretzel]

Oh, I offered my "best piece" as a solution. Of course, you don't see where I store most of my wine.

 

[PolishWineP]

And where is that? We want to see! Go upstairs, get the camera, go downstairs, take some pictures, then go upstairs to download the pictures. Who needs the Stairmaster? We have stairs!

 

[PolishWineP]

When we have long-term bottle aging to be done, we sometimes use the cardboard boxes from bottles we actually had to pay for or we use boxes from the liquor store. We close them up and slide them under the shelves in our wine cellar/pantry.


*Note to self, get kids out of house, quit buying food to store downstairs. Will then have more room for wine.*

 

[MedPretzel]

And where is that? We want to see! Go upstairs, get the camera, go downstairs, take some pictures, then go upstairs to download the pictures. Who needs the Stairmaster? We have stairs!

You see me, don't you?!?!?

Where are the cameras you put up?





But then you know, I have to clean up that area before any pictures will be taken...





Oh, okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....





Let me go downstairs...

Edited by: MedPretzel

 

[MedPretzel]

Alright... (out of breath!!)


Somehow I feel so ... unorganized!


A little background first: I have a very damp basement in the summertime, even though the dehumidifier is constantly running. The basement used to be an old coal cellar, so conditions are usually not great for storing wine. I had problems (especially this year) with moldy corks and mold growing on just about everything except my cats. So, I transferred all my wine to the dining room for the very humid months, sprayed everything with a bleach/water spray, and got rid of the mold. And I moved the dehumidifier closer to my wines. That worked very well. So, in trying to think of how I could better shield my wines from the humidity of the basement, I came up with the following idea. It works great, and haven't had any problems with mold near my wine-station after that. And we even had more humid days after I did all this.


But before I post the pictures, I wanted to give you my reasoning on the choice of wine storage I have now.

1. 
   <LI>I love to drink my wine. Unfortunately, I love to drink it when I have bottled it, and I forget that I have older, better wines (maybe). So, I wanted something that was closed off from my view.
   <LI>I wanted something that was dark, so that light wouldn't change the colors of my wine. Plus, it would be hidden from my view (see #1).
   <LI>The mold problem was already discussed. I wanted it shielded from the humidity in the air, and even sort of a closed (although not perfect) enviroment.
   <LI>Since the basement was actually an old coal cellar, there are temperature swings throughout the year. I wanted something that would shield the wine, allbeit not ideal (I know), but something a little more constant.
   <LI>If I should have an "exploder" (which I have had before), I wanted something that wouldn't cause the whole basement to be cleaned up. I have done it twice now already, and I didn't want to do it a third time. More importantly, however, since the cats' room is the basement -- they spend most of their time down there -- I wanted to be sure that they were safe from glass and corks with bullet-like properties.
   <LI>It had to be cheap.</LI>

So those were the considerations I was dealing with during the summer. This is what I came up with:

At Target, I found these bins on sale. I have 2 30-gallon ones on the bottom, and I have 3 18-gallon ones on top of them. The 30-galloners hold a lot of bottles, I don't know how many, but quite a few, and plus I can put in the smaller, 187 ml bottles, beer bottles etc, etc in them. They are at the bottom. Yes, I was so stupid that I stacked them first on top of one another, and no, they are not stable enough to hold the wine on the lid.


The 18 galloners are a perfect size for a 750 ml wine bottle (nothing fancy), I have found. They get wider at the top, so if you have ones that are longer, you can store them more to the top. It's a tight fit at the bottom, but it does work. I get about 30 bottles in one of these. Of course, it depends on the size of the bottle.

This picture shows how I put them in there. The picture is a little distorted: There are 30 bottles in there, and there is no room for another row of 750 ml bottles. Just so you guys get an idea.





Another shot of my slobbiness....

Here's the other shot of 2 wine-racks I "made." I'm such a stingy person, and used only what I had at home. The "X" one is the one I previously mentioned using 2x4s. That is a huge balancing act, and although the 2x4s are very strong and have a lot of stability, I soon came to notice that wine bottles come in all shapes and forms, and unless you use the same kind over and over, you're in for disaster.


Above it, to stabilize the whole thing from falling over (there are other stabilizing factors you don't see), I use crates filled with my little 187 ml bottles. I doubled the bottles up, and that is quite a bit of weight. So far, so good.





Now here is where you'll find that I'm such a garbage-picker.

In the springtime, my husband and I worked on our side-entrance and ended up replacing the railing. Of course, I immediately got a bottle of wine and tested if it would fit. It did. So, I constructed this thing out of the 2 sides of the railing. I used that for the wine-rack on the right. I put a 2x4 in between, screwed it with 2 inch nails and painted it with latex paint. My husband was not impressed, but my parents were, and it does the trick.

In front of the right wine-rack are the fermenting wines that are really taking off. I initially had only 2 there, which are on the piece of lattice. The reason I have the lattice is because I needed something that would keep my wines off of the hard, cold, cement floor. I'm only 5'5" and not a wimp, but on some days, those 5 gallon carboys seem heavier than others. So, it's a little buffer-thing for me when I set the carboys down.


In the first picture, I have to remind you that this is not cleaned up at all. I looked at all those cases and thought, nah!!!!! They'll understand!!!

Yes, the Gazelle is being used but obviously not currently.

Oh, I almost forgot: The bins (on sale) were bought at Target, and cost me about 6 bucks for the large ones and 3 bucks for the smaller ones. I think I will stick with the smaller ones eventually, because they fit exactly 1 5-gallon carboy in them (when bottled). Eventually I will fill each with 1 batch, I can label them with masking tape and they don't look horrendous.





So there you have it. I feel like you have delved into my deepest dungeons and secrets.

I hope you guys still like me.

Wow, I'm not out of breath anymore!!!


Edited by: MedPretzel

 

[jcnoren]

JoJO....Milk crates.... Where does one acquire these??? I like the idea of them being sturdy.

 

[MedPretzel]

jcnoren and I were posting practically at the same time.

Just so you know, there's a big long post (with pictures!) for my cheapo way of storing wine on the first page of this post.





M....

 

[jcnoren]

Martina.... Yep we seemed to be posting at the same time. Love your photos, I especially like your ingenuity, on a limited budget no less!!

I applaud your resourcefullness .

You have given me a few ideas.


I now feel the need to "scout around the neigbourhood". See what I can locate and put together. Cheap is also one of my criterias when it comes to a "wine/rack/storage device".


Thank you for your time, effort and imput!


JC

 

[MedPretzel]

Thanks, JC.

 

[Waldo]

" In water, one seesone's own face, But, in Martina's basement, one see's her love of makingwine"

 

[MedPretzel]

You crack me up, Waldo...

 

[PolishWineP]

Martina, You have provided a great service today.

If we always straighten up before we shoot pictures then everyone else thinks we're always that way and feel they should do the same before shooting. What a waste of time! I explained to Bert a few months ago that we can either have a house that is always picked up and nice looking or we can have a house in which we do many things. He chose the fun. I too create things that "don't impress the husband" but as Rhett said to Scarlet...

To help in the humid months with the moisture issue in the basement, try adding 1 or 2 fans to the equation. We also run the cirulating fan on our furnace all summer to help with the air exchange. I love the tub idea. We use tubs for a lot of storage because we're prone to flooding here and you never know when you too could have a pool in your basement. And so much more sturdy than cardboard in water.

 

[NorthernWinos]

MEDPRETZEL WROTE:

In the first picture, I have to remind you that this is not cleaned up at all.  I looked at all those cases and thought, nah!!!!!  They'll understand!!!

 Yes, the Gazelle is being used but obviously not currently. 

  Oh, I almost forgot:  The bins (on sale) were bought at Target, and cost me about 6 bucks for the large ones and 3 bucks for the smaller ones.  I think I will stick with the smaller ones eventually, because they fit exactly 1 5-gallon carboy in them (when bottled).  Eventually I will fill each with 1 batch, I can label them with masking tape and they don't look horrendous.


 


So there you have it.  I feel like you have delved into my deepest dungeons and secrets. 

 

 I hope you guys still like me. 

Wow, I'm not out of breath anymore!!!


 [/QUOTE]
MedPretzel[Martina]Had a good laugh when I saw your Gazelle in your photo. I finally found a good use for the treadmill...see photo...storing some of my empties on it. So, treadmills do have a use other than clothes racks. Got a good workout getting it into the sewing room...will get another workout getting it out of the house if anyone should ever want it.

I have GREAT EXPECTATIONS and hope to get all these bottles filled soon. I am an odd one, more bottles than wine....get them from a supper club and resort.
Things I have learned about getting empty bottles.....
I can fit 217 bottles in boxes in my car.
I can get home 125 miles without having to explain my 'cargo' to a Trooper or anyone else.
Pick them up soon after they set them by the dumpster [cardboard boxes don't last outside.]
Turn empties up-side-down as soon as you get them, less mold and funky dried on stuff...bugs..
People are happy when you take their empty bottles...more dumpster space,
and...people who save you bottles like wine.
Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[MedPretzel]

I love your treadmill!!!


I always justify not working out when I lift a 5 gallon carboy 2-3 times a day.

Edited by: MedPretzel

 

[jcnoren]

i have no rack - yet. iuse old wine boxes from V. Sattui tilted on their side against the cement wall in the basement. i hear milk crates work. i want to build a diamond rack this winter.

Whatis a "diamond rack"?


Milk Crates...I googled plastic crates, colapsible crates in hopes to find some at a local store in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.Has anyone in my neck of the world seen them? If so where? Cost?


I have one old milk crate...my parents got "no idea where". I useit for hawling my filled bottles from one location to the next. I like the size (able to handle it easily), strength (doesn't break, or bend)and weight (light weight even with filled bottles in it). Thus my determination to find a couple more of these milk crates.


Martina...are the plastic binds you use sturdy? Is there an equivlent business (Target) in western Canada that sells similar plastic bins?


JC