Wine racks or wine closets make your storage of wine easier to manage. A beautiful assemblage of wine racks or a fine-furniture wine closet has aesthetic value beyond its utility. Whether you need a wine racks or one wine rack depends on your cellaring needs. Remember, we store wine bottles on their sides to keep the cork from drying out. This makes it difficult to keep your wine on a shelf or on top of a cabinet, because they like to roll. Cellaring means putting wine away for months or years. But you don’t need an actual cellar to cellar your wines. If you prefer to keep only a few cases or a few bottles on hand for occasional use, there’s no need to invest in elaborate storage units or wine racks.

Many people keep a few bottles of wine on hand just so they won’t have to go running to the local wine shop at the penultimate moment.  Wine racks will hold your wine bottles in the perfect lying-down orientation. They come in a variety of sizes and structures and materials. There are inexpensive materials, like white pine, and expensive ones, like clear Lucite or polished brass. Some designer-decorated homes boast a wine wall, a built-in rack that can cost up to several thousand dollars. The type of wine rack you choose will depend on your needs, taste, and budget. If you’re thinking of going for glitter, remember this: Assuming you have located your collection away from bright light and heat, your wine rack rarely will be on public display. wine racks come in two basic configurations: the 12-bottle shelf and the much larger bookcase-style. Many small wine racks are very well-designed and easily stacked without danger of toppling. They fit easily into closets, on bookshelves, or in other convenient nooks, and they allow you to add as needed. But however small your rack might be, some experts will tell you that a wine-storage temperature of 55 degrees is essential. It isn’t. Temperature uniformity is more important. Ideally, the temperature should not change by more than 10 Fahrenheit degrees, either direction, over the course of a week. You can store your wines at temperatures up to 65 or even 70 degrees without damage. However, fine wines do not develop to their fullest potential if stored at too high a temperature.

If your home has a fruit cellar, this might work well for storing your wine. Many experts believe.storing wines temperatures; your cellar should be kept at a constant 55 degrees. By all means, strive for this! But if it’s not practical for you, don’t despair. As long as the changes in temperature are gradual and there are no extremes of heat and cold, your wines won’t suffer. If your storage conditions vary from, say 50 degrees in winter to a high of about 70 degrees in summer, you don’t have to worry.

 You can find Le Cellier wine rack at www.wineracksinternational.com/index.asp. You can find a retail store locator at www.wineracksinternational.com/stores01.asp . You can find a winery locatetor at www.wineracksinternational.com/finder01.asp.