What's a Practical Wine Cellar?

A practical wine cellar is a unique concept in a field many people consider cut-and-dried. First, I don't want to give the impression that proper wine storage isn't necessary. Far from it. I simply want to point out that a traditional wine cellar is unrealistic for many people.

Storing wine under the appropriate conditions is an absolute necessity for wine collectors. But not everyone who stores wine is a collector, and can get away with what's called “indifferent cellaring” (more on this later).

But if you find yourself storing more wine than you can drink, you could be described as a budding wine collector. If this is the case, first I hope you're storing the right wine. Second, I hope you're making an effort to store it under the appropriate conditions. But remember, wine collecting is a process and modern technology has given us many alternatives to the basement wine-cellar.

However, knowing the conditions necessary to store wine properly is a prerequisite to the buying of any wine-cellar equipment. After I have explained these conditions to you, I will use them to evaluate your wine storage options. I will begin where most wine collectors do...in the closet.

But first, you need to know some wine basics.

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