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Wine is a topic around the world that can turn a lot of heads and make a lot of eyes widen - knowing that this lavish beverage has been involved with so many memories and great experiences.
However, the topic of storing that wine and looking after it is seemingly unheard of outside of wine trader’s/connoisseurs. Is it not important to store wine bottles? Or are the benefits just unknown around the community?
Well… whether it is or it isn’t, you’ll find out - but is this what wine storage cabinets were made for? Keep reading to discover more information on this topic.
What is a Wine Cabinet?
When it comes to storage, there are many different variants and ways you can manage your wine collection. Other than a wine storage cabinet - wine storage solutions consist of wine coolers, wine cellars and wine racks. However, today we’ll be going through what wine cabinets are and the key benefits of owning a wine cabinet appliance.
A wine bottle cabinet is comparable to any normal cabinet you have at home which is known as a piece of furniture with shelves or drawers that is used for storage. However, wine cabinets will usually have doors, side panels and space for any other items that may need to be stored for a long period. Unlike normal cabinets, wine furniture cabinets will have rack space for wine bottles and glasses to be placed on.
Similarly to wine coolers, certain variants of wine cabinets such as a single zone and dual zone wine cabinet allow you to control their temperature for short term gain using these single temperature wine or dual temperature features. A wine cabinet has the main goal of storing wine and making the ageing process as smooth as possible.
Not only will the wine cabinet be of use for general functions such as storage for the wine bottle collection, wine glasses, corkscrews, etc - the sleek appearance of this furniture in a wooden finish will be a notable feature to the ambience of your household, for all attending visitors.
Most wine cabinets will stock up anywhere from 10-25 bottles of wine, with the odd few offering slightly more room available - meaning that the space is limited compared to other wine storage options. But don’t let that put you off, as there are many benefits that we will go through below.
Benefits of Having a Wine Storage Cabinet
If you have been a wine collector for several years and have seen some of your most expensive and luxurious wine being spoiled over time - there may be some issues with how you were storing your wine. Here are some benefits to storing your wine in a wine storage cabinet:
Protection From Vibrations
If you previously placed your wine in a room where there was a dryer, washing machine, etc you may have noticed that your wine had built up some sediment at the bottom of the bottle. This is because the chemical reactions in wine will be disturbed by these vibrations - leaving the taste, smell and appearance of your wine far below par.
Having a designated place (wine cabinet) for your wine bottles or any other items you want to keep there - in a room where there are no possible disturbing vibrations will be optimal for your cabinet/ wine bottles.
Darkness
In addition to vibrations affecting your wine - if sunlight is too prominent and UV rays are allowed to hit your wine bottles constantly, this can be seriously harmful to each entity of your wine. When exposed to these UV rays, the taste of the wine will become flat - even if the bottle is dark.
Every wine cabinet will have wooden or glass doors with thick insulated glass which will offer some support and protection from the UV light hitting the doors. Most evolved wine cabinets have interior lighting (LED lighting) which will have a soft glow and won’t emit any heat onto your wine bottles.
Budget-Friendly
As opposed to the other storage options such as wine coolers and traditional wine cellars - a wine cabinet will be a lot cheaper of an option. Wine cabinets are often just built on-demand, rather than high-tech machinery for cool temperature wine coolers or months of planning for a wine cellar.
This product can then be delivered to your doorstep ready-made within a couple of weeks. Therefore, if you feel like you want to add another wine cabinet to the household (if you have space) - this will be a rinse and repeat process with no stress. More cabinets will equal more room for your little or large wine collection.
Consistent Temperature and Humidity
With this storage option, there are two types of wine cabinets that you can buy. A passive wine cabinet is a more traditional cabinet - with just racks available, acting as a placeholder for your wine. Whereas, an active wine cabinet has a cooling system and can control the humidity and temperature inside.
Maintaining a cool environment is essential for the proper ageing of wine - meaning that whether you’re enjoying a nice glass of wine in the garden or dining with the family, they will taste, smell and look good!
Having proper humidity and temperature levels also keeps your cork damp, which will preserve the seal of the bottle and prevent oxidation. Wine coolers are a great example of keeping your wine fresh and ready to use whenever you want. But, depending on where and if you decided to build a wine cellar - if this is a hot and stuffy room, then it won’t be optimal for wine storage.
Overall, if your finance available is on the lower end of the spectrum and wine coolers and wine cellars are completely out of your reach - then a wine cabinet would be the perfect option for you moving forward with wine storage. The insulated and higher-tech wine cabinet will be slightly more expensive than the traditional wine cabinet - so it’s all down to you which one you would prefer to order!
Elite Wines TOP 5 wine cabinets
Wine storage is something we specialize in, working with some of the best brands from around Europe - we are always looking for new cabinets to supply to our cabinets that will add to our product range we have recently added a new manufacturer to our assortment whom specializes in high capacity storage units, that are not only suitable for installation within a garage or outbuilding due to their heating system, but they also aesthetically look very attractive and the lighting is excellent - Vin Garde wine fridges we feel are a great addition to the Elite Wine assortment and available with quick delivery in 2-3 working days.
The Vin Garde wine cabinets have a maximum capacity of 176 Bordeaux bottles and the shelves are designed in a way that will support most bottle shapes without reducing the overall capacity - the VOLNAY 176 in black has proved very popular since we started supplying the Vin Garde wine fridge's.
1) Climadiff RESERVE300XL - This is a high capacity wine cabinet manufactured in Portugal which we supply a lot of to customers across the UK and Ireland. The overall capacity is attractive to customers who have circa 300 bottles and the fact it is equipped with the winter system means it can be installed anywhere were the ambient temperature does not fall below 0°C
2) DUNAVOX DX-194.490BK - The Grande-194 is a unit we love at Elite Wine, it is one of the most 'usable' tall wine fridges on the market - our customers like the fact it has so many shelves so individual layers of bottles can be stored. This and the fact this model is a fan assisted unit means the temperature is maintained more evenly throughout the wine cabinet. We have this cabinet on display in our Chester showroom or various locations around London.
3) La Sommeliere CTV249 - The CTV249 is produced by the French manufacturer La Sommeliere, the price means it is a slightly more cost effective option to some of our other wine cabinets. The benefit to the lower price means you have a lower storage cost per bottle but this does mean there are fewer shelves within the unit, however, more can be added. Aesthetically, this wine fridge is a good looking unit which we also have on display in our Chester showroom.
4) SWISSCAVE WLB460F-MIX - If you are looking for a cabinet that is not only highly reliable but also aesthetically pleasing with all the bells and whistles available with a modern wine cabinet then the premium range from Swisscave is the best place to look. The WLB-460F-MIX is the highest capacity single zone wine cabinet Swisscave provide and features white, amber or blue LED lighting which really does light up like a Christmas tree of an evening!
5) LIEBHERR WKT 6451 - The BIGGEST, wine cabinet we have available to us here in the UK with a huge capacity of 312 Bordeaux bottles. At nearly 2metres high and 75cm wide, this Liebherr wine cabinet is built for the biggest wine collections and has the same size capacity as some small wine cellars!
