Creating a Wine Cellar in a Condo
Living in a condo has many great aspects: the costs and maintenance is often less than in a house, you don’t have to worry about house things like clearing the drive or raking leaves, you’re instantly part of a community, and you’re probably close to a downtown area (which means better access to social, cultural and sporting events). However, not everything about a condo is great, especially for wine lovers. Whereas in a house you can easily construct a wine cellar in the basement, that’s not always possible in a condo. Luckily, we’re here to help, and show you how you can still keep your awesome wine collection going strong in a condo.
Wine Cellar 101
There’s not much science behind a wine cellar, even though it may seem fancy. Here are the basic principles for keeping wine in a cellar and not on your kitchen counter:
Not all wines need to be kept in a cellar, such as just about all whites and some light reds (e.g. Beaujolais Superior won’t benefit at all from being aged in a cellar). But other wines, like heavier, more full-bodied reds, won’t taste nearly as good right away as if you let them mature in a cellar.
Keeping your wines in a cellar touches on three important aspects that your fridge or kitchen counter can’t:
Wines, especially reds, operate best when they’re at the 55F mark, with a humidity of 65-75% and a dark glass bottle to shield the contents from light damage. Your fridge isn’t a good idea because the temperature fluctuates every time you open the door (plus, it’s cooler than 55F), the light goes on every time you open the door, and you can’t control the humidity in your kitchen nearly as well as in a basement. Lastly, hum of the refrigerator slightly vibrates the bottle of wine, keeping the contents constantly mixing instead of letting them settle.
So, now that we’ve gone over the basics of storing wine, let’s see how it applies to condo and apartment living.
Building a Wine Cellar for a Small Space
You’ve got three main challenges when constructing a wine cellar in a condo or apartment: a small space, no basement, and not a lot of storage space. But if you’re really dedicated to the craft of keeping good wine, it’s by no means impossible at all. You just have to be a little more creative, and willing to make compromises in other areas.
For instance, many condos come as a 1 bedroom + den, and you can use that den as a makeshift wine cellar. It’ll take some work, but that’s why Harkraft is in business: to help people realize their dreams. If you do decide to convert your den into a wine cellar, you’ll need to outfit it so it’s hospitable for wine.
If you don’t want to completely remodel your den, there are other ways around it, but it’s still a good idea to put in devices that can control the light, temperature and humidity. Or you can keep your wine in a wine cellaring appliance. This is a super easy way to capitalize on wooden racking, light protection and multiple temperature zones to keep your wine optimally maturing.