For the Wine Lovers Out There: The Complete Guide to Setting Up a Mini Wine Cellar

A bottle of wine is such a quintessential gift one would bring when invited to a house party. It looks undoubtedly classy, and what’s more: picking a good wine is definitely much easier than picking a stylish home decoration for a host that you don’t know so well. Do you often find yourself at the receiving end, accumulating various bottles of wines whose existence you almost forget? Or are you an avid wine drinker who wishes to have a fancy collection of wines, but has no idea of how to store them? It’s time for you to showcase your wines as well as to properly store them. Life is too short to drink a bad wine!

Climate Control

This nitty-gritty aspect of building a wine cellar is probably the biggest cause of your headache. Although there is no scientific agreement on this, the optimal condition for a wine cellar is said to be 13°C and 57% humidity level. That sounds a bit too much to manage, especially in Singapore. With its hot and humid weather, your wines are more prone to have mouldy corks or to go bad if not stored properly.

Humidity

We all know how humid Singapore weather can get, and worse, it stays the same all year round. However, you should not worry too much because a simple dehumidifier can help you remove the excess moisture in the wine cellar.

Temperature

For the last few years, we have seen the little red dot break its own highest temperature record. That’s definitely far from encouraging, but a cooling unit can solve this problem. Besides light bulbs that emit heat, direct sunlight is also wines’ big enemy since it easily raises the temperature. So, you need to keep this in mind while choosing the location of your wine cellar.

Location

Space is probably another thing that concerns you when thinking of building a wine cellar. You may be complaining that you don’t even have a space to store your favourite Chinese ceramics, let alone wines. In reality, all you need is to walk around your house and find a small space that is unused. This space can be an unused living room cabinet, a blank wall, or even below the stairs. You will be surprised that the seemingly unusual space can be a good corner to display your collection of wines. However, do pay attention to the humidity and temperature while looking for the perfect location to showcase your wines.

Design/Shelves

As superficial as it sounds, shelf designs are meant to impress your guests. An excellent design should follow the overall theme of your house so that your wine cellar will not stand out too much from the rest. For those of you who don’t have the luxury of space at home, X-shelves are the perfect solution. You can stack a few bottles of wine together according to their brands or years, making it easier to find among the myriad of bottles you have.

X-shelves are perfect to optimise the limited space at home

Wine cubbies are more suitable for a smaller collection of wines

Open wine cubbies are multi-purpose and easier to clean

If your wine collection is rather limited, wine cubbies will be better suited for you, especially if you have an unused space at the end of your kitchen cabinet or TV set. Wine cubbies give a neat and organised look for your wine collection and are also easier to clean. There are also tons of modern-looking minimalistic cubbies that are simple yet elegant for the house.

CC0 by Gadini

Building a wine cellar at home is never an easy job, but is a fulfilling one for both decoration and storage purposes. Many people often make so many excuses of their limited space at home or the tedious building process, but the truth is an interior designer is your best friend in making a wine cellar at home. Their expertise in maximising space and optimising designs will help you set up your dream wine cellar at home. Get ready to hear more clinking sound of wine glasses and cork popping in your house!