The Wine Knows

Gordman,

If you happen to live in or near the Tri-Cities, I have a bunch of shippers you can have for free. We get hundreds per year.

Andy

Hey Gordman,

Call a few wineries in your area. Many wineries will sell shipping containers for $5-7 each. These are case sized, heavy duty cardboard boxes with styrofoam inserts and each bottle fits snugly into. We have a few we keep on hand for transporting larger quantities of wine to family gatherings, etc. The styrofoam also can act as a sort of insulation. Several small ice packs (like you use for lunches, etc) can be tucked into the package to help keep the wine cool on longer journeys in hot weather. That is what we do! We always take a few with us when we visit Walla Walla or Columbia Valley to protect our wine and keep it cool, especially in the hot summers. Then, we can easily take them into our hotel room at the end of the day, or, if it is really hot and we aren't too far away, we will make a quick trip back to the hotel mid-day, drop them off, and head back out!

Hope that helps.

Cheers!
Tim

Thanks Tim. Unfortunately we don't have a basement. This has driven me up the wall since moving into our house! Our next house will! Which then makes me start thinking...

I am tempted to go with the one from Costco given the price and the fact that we don't expect to be in this house for more than another year or two. Then we could stick our "good" bottles in there at least and then re-evaluate when moving on to a bigger house (with a basement).

Thanks for the food for thought!

April

How about the Wine Stat temperature control unit. It just plugs in to any regular refrigerator and essentially makes it a wine cellar. Now this only works if you have a spare refrigerator lying around (not most people I understand). However I have been using it for over a year now and have been impressed with it. A friend turned me onto this product and I did my research and found it to be a nice cheap alernative. I should say that some folks with unit worry about humidity control.....I did to, but I should explain that I live in Houston, TX and the ambient humidity more than takes care of my needs. So take it for what this is worth.

We are in the Tri-Cities and it would most likely go inside in our formal dining room.

Thanks!
April

It would be a good idea to start with a 250 bottle unit. You should look for something that it is quiet. The cheaper 24 to 50 bottle units: Magic Chef, etc. that you find at Home Depot & Lowes run on freon & noise is a concern. You can check online with wineenthusiast.com or vintagecellars.com - you will find features such as thermoelectric cooling - runs quitely, no freon- not a problem in your living spaces. Some are listed such that they can take extreme temperatures as in the garage in summer or winter. There are some build your own kits if you have the skills & price is a concern. You don't need a unit with glass on the door: that usually is an extra expense. Pull out shelves are nice, easy to view bottles. They cost more than just stacking, but the convenience is good.

If you live in a metropolitan area, sometimes you can find wine storage facilities that rent individual climate controlled lockers. You don't get to look at your collection anytime you want to as you would at home, but can save puttting out $$$ for a home storage unit.