Wine Storage Area

[frohe]

I'm curious what ya'll's using for your wine workroom and storage area. A cellar down here in Texas is rare and with the hot summers, you can rule out using the garage. Me, I use our kitchen for my work area, getting in there early Sunday mornings to get all my stuff done before the wifey gets up. I have a 3 shelf, rolling wire rack that I keep my primaries and secondaries on along with my other equipment. All racked and finished wines are in a spare bedroom on wire rack shelves. Oh, BTW, I'm not a bottler. I keep everything in 1 gallon glass jugs on the shelves, finally moving some to swing top bottles to chill before I attack them for my enjoyment.

So what are y'all using to make and store your wines?

 

[malweth]

We have a mostly finished basement that is a kids play area, so it's also tight. I use the basement bathroom as my work area. It's a hardly ever used, extra 3/4 bath. The space there is tight, but that also means it's a good place for fermentation (keeping it at 70+ isn't hard to do). The best part is the laundry sink - a 15-20 gallon basin sink... it's great for cleaning up, etc.

I haven't moved there yet, but bulk aging will be in the storage / furnace / workshop area of the basement. I thought it would be too hot because of the furnace, but when I tried to do secondary fermentation there it was far too cold (65 degrees). There's also a small closet I can use that should be cool. All three places will be no good during the summer (we don't have anyplace that stays cold, though the basement is better for summer heat).

Bottle storage eludes me right now. I don't have a big wine rack, but I can stack boxes in one of two small storage closets in the basement. I have no idea where to build a rack!

 

[Runningwolf]

I am fortunate enough to have a basement. The unfortunate thing is the more room you have the more out of control you get. I am up to about 30 vessel's right now in various stages. I have a separate room for wine storage that I recently out grew.

 

[KSmith3011]

I Built a fermentation closet in my unheated 10x10 shed. It has two chambers, the Primary is 78*, the secondary 62*. For long term storage I use the crawl space under the house. In winter it stays between 50-55* in the summer it can get up to 70* but only for a short time. It is not a perfect set up but it works for me.

 

[Wade E]

I too have a basement and like Runningwolf says, the more room you have the more you take advantage of it. I haveone room designated to fermenting and bulk aging and another for bottled wine.

 

[ellijaywinemaker]

I have a basement as well and just use a little corner of it. I am about to start building my 100 bottle wine rack.

 

[Wade E]

Sure looks nice and dark in there!

 

[ellijaywinemaker]

I keep the light down do not want it to mess with my liquid gold LOL

 

[Catfish]

I don't have much of a basement. Just this little dungeon where the furnace is. Also used for some storage. But now I use it for the wine until I get something else figured out. Did some racking last night and took a picture with my phone. Still gotta top up a few of the carboys. That's on tomorrows to do list.

 

[Wade E]

Actually my wine making room is also my furnace room which works out great as that room is not heated by any other means but the furnace keeps that room at around 71* all winter long and during the summer it stays about that temp also because we keep the door open and the outside door is right there. The wine cellar on the other hand due to being mailny all under ground on 2 walls and insulated on the other 2 stays around 55* for 3 seasons of the year but during the extreme summer I have to use a dehumifier to rid the room of excessive humidity which in turn raises the temp to about 63*.

 

[Catfish]

I really like your setup Wade. Hopefully in a few years when I'm not young and broke I will be able to expand.

 

[sly22guy]

These are some pics of my wine making area, it is also my bar so it is a dual purpose area. I also have a closet under the stairs that is underground on 2 sides and stays about 55-60 year round. but i dont have any pics of that yet.

 

[Brian]

Here is my wine desk and my wine storage from a while ago. This is before I really got into it. This is two seperate areas in my basement so it is nice. The storage stays cool and about 60-70% humidity and the desk is in my furnace area which stays between 65-75 degrees year round.

 

[RoastedChestnut]

Hi, I'm new to winemaking from a kit. I recently bottled the wine one week ago on Christmas Eve.

There is a finished bedroom in my basement with a door. There is a closet in this room with carpet floor that is about 67.4F (19 C) 33%Humidity, which is the coldest room in the house. I tried to block all the airflow from the heater air ducts in the walls because it is winter. I can't get the temperature any lower than 64.4F (18C). I have observed the temperature in the furnance room but it still actually higher with concrete floor, 68F (20C).

Thermostat of house is set to 68-77F (20-25C). I can't really tinker with the thermostat because it is winter here in canada. I have table fans that circulate air but that actually raises the temperature weird.

What are some suggestions to reduce the ambient temperature in my closet or is the temperature okay for storing wine?

 

[Wade E]

Dont worry so much about temps and worry more about stability. If that temp is stable then that will work just fine and thats actually pretty decent. Just keep out light and try to keep vibrations down also.

 

[JohnT]

Just to show how sick I am...

It took me a year to find the house that would fit my winemaking needs (my wife wanted to kill me several times)

The house we purchased has a finished basement with a room that was used as a woodshop. There are plenty of outlets. Also, the basement is 100% below grade on one side (front) and is at ground level in the back. the woodshop has it's own double doors that allow great ground level access to the outside with NO steps.

It took only a little work to add formica counters and a sink with hot/cold water.

 

[Loren]

Guess I would be considered trailer trash as I live in an adult mobile home park her in Florida and you know how hot it gets here. We go away for four months during the summer and I have some makeshift racks built under the trailer, where I leave all my wine that I don't take with me. Hey, it works for me, never had a problem. I may have a few bottles missing when I get home as too many of the neighbors know where I store my stash. Loren

 

[Runningwolf]

Loren thats pretty funny. I wish a had a neighbor that left a stash outside and took off for a while.

 

[wvbrewer]

Those are some nice setups. I have to do everything in our kitchen, extra bathroom and bedroom. We keep the temp in the house around sixty nine to seventy one degrees most of the time. One day I'll have more room for a better setup.

 

[Arne]

Loren thats pretty funny. I wish a had a neighbor that left a stash outside and took off for a while.

lol, Brings visions of a wolf laying on its back under a trailer with a bottle in its paws, kinda like Troys bear. Struck me as funny, anyway, Arne.