I need advice for building a wine rack
2I have a decently sized wine cellar, about half of a standard bedroom in size. However I only have half of the wine racks needed to fill it, and those wine racks are all full. I am currently just stacking boxes for the time being but would like to install new wine racks when I can.
I was thinking of just building my own. The other wine racks in there were custom built but they are expensive.
Does anyone have any advice or experience in this regard? I am looking for something cheap and/or easy to build but also space-effective. I want to be able to fit as much wine as possible! I have not really built much in my time but am willing to learn.
I was thinking about a wire-rack, or maybe something like a book shelf. Any thoughts are appreciated!
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@Twich22 I went with this 60-bottle Oenophilia wine rack
At just over $1/bottle, it’s hard to beat the value. Also, I was able to stack these 2-high to maximize storage space. I have 12 of them so far but still have boxes piled everywhere as well!
EDIT Yikes, just noticed the shipping charge, they shipped via Prime when I bought them but it’s still a good deal vs. other racks based on per bottle storage rate.
@chipgreen how did you stack them 2 high?
@Twich22 Was able to slip the bottom “feet” just inside the top of the rack below, then lashed them together with zip ties. Nothing fancy but it works well. It creates a narrow row which I fill with 375ml dessert wines. There is also hardware included to attach the racks to the wall.
If you scroll down to the Reviews section of the listing linked above, you will see some “customer images” on the right that show different ways in which people have installed the racks, including stacking. Another guy ground off the feet for the upper rack and drilled holes to bolt the sides together but I found it unnecessary. They have been standing for 6 years with no shifting. The last 2 pics are mine.
It’s too bad I am so backlogged with projects. I had planned to have built my own custom racks by now and could have sold you my older ones.
I’ve had decent luck combing Craigslist in our area. I’m averse to anything that even looks flimsy when I stack that much money on it.
If you find plans for something and wanted to buy the materials we could do the project in my shop. I would charge a small fee of fresh roasted coffee beans however.
I agree with chipgreen that if you can stay around $1/bottle storage you are in good shape. My someday racks will probably be closer to $3/bottle, but they will be fancy instead of just utilitarian.
I ended up ordering 2 different ones to try them out. I got 2 of each rack. One seems to be able to fit more bottles per square foot, at the cost of some stability. The other, which @chipgreen recommended, looks more stable, and can be stacked and hung on the wall if needed, at the expense of a bit of bottle density. I’ll let you know how they fare!
I just found this one
for under $1/bottle including shipping.
@chipgreen
That’s actually pretty similar to some I have from the Container Store, at about half the price. Hmmmmm. Might I need a couple more?
@chipgreen @karenhynes For those with many bottles, and limited space; the density looks a bit low. Would like to pack them in a bight tighter, but this looks like it would easily accommodate those of larger diameter.
@chipgreen @karenhynes @rjquillin What do you use ron?
@chipgreen @karenhynes @Twich22 Four different cabinet/coolers, off-site climate controlled storage, suppliers that offer fee based (and free) storage, styro shippers, pulp shippers, regular boxes.
It kinda depends on the value of the bottle and how long I expect to cellar it.
I keep dreaming about building a room/structure and climate controlling it. Oh! For a basement.
@chipgreen @karenhynes @rjquillin @Twich22
Well we also live in earthquake country any free standing rack like the ones above are only a 3 point trembler away from disaster!
I guess I never thought about earthquakes. That would be a disaster. Maybe ill get some wall fasteners.
@Twich22 You definitely need to fasten any rack you have to the wall. Even my shorter units have anchors to studs. I wouldn’t bother with those silly sheetrock anchors… won’t help much in a quake.
That said, my wine insurance policy covers earthquakes, so I rest a little easier.
@Twich22 Found these on craigslist. Not my favorite style, but good price/bottle.
I basically made this one https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00K28U73K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_SjTjBb2ZGDB6C
Ten bottles wide, four tall, it cost about $40 to make with a router and jigsaw.
Best advice I can give you is to drink faster
I was one of the early Wine.Woot adopters of the Oenophilia rack mentioned above - it’s great.
However, we’re in a different house now and have a proper wine cellar (woohoo!) so I’ve been looking for a slightly bigger - and more easily stackable - rack. Does anyone here have experience with this DisplayGifts modular 72 bottle wood rack? Looks like a solid solution; I’m most likely looking at 3-4 of them stacked.
Look what I found. https://forums.woot.com/t/simple-question-for-building-a-wine-rack/58307 I think there are others, this was the first one that came up.
Oh well, that wasn’t exactly the thread I was thinking of. But the good news it, it’s from 2009! Not so easy to search, but I guess the old posts are making their way back?
Older posts are there, but only in a limited way. Hope they continue to add old conversations from Wine/Gourmet.woot
I also have the Seville Classics 168 bottle mentioned above. I got it off their site (vs. Amazon) at about $120 at the time (w/ free shipping). It has risen a bit since then, but they may have Black Friday coupons. It’s not fancy, but it seems sturdy enough for my purposes. I liked that it had two sections which could be stacked side-by-side, which worked best for me. I can’t comment on how it would be stacked. It also allows you to buy extra shelves for some minor customization.