Information on your wine racks.

Wine racks are specialized shelving units designed to hold individual bottles of wine on their sides for proper storage. Wine racks may be small, for day-to-day kitchen use, or large, lining the walls of a wine cellar. They may be constructed of traditional moisture-resistant woods, like redwood or mahogany, or of modern materials like stainless steel. Usually, the tops of the bottles are pointed outward, to help visually identify the wines. In the case of large collections or commercial cellars, the individual bottle slots, often called ‘bins’, may be tagged with identification numbers to assist in locating wines quickly.

Wines sealed with natural cork closures are best kept stored horizontally in order to keep the corks tightly sealed. Like little wooden sponges, corks will shrivel and shrink slightly if allowed to dry out completely. Any cork shrinkage is likely to allow air, and thus wine’s enemy oxygen, into the bottle, which encourages spoilage and pre-mature aging. Horizontal storage keeps the corks in contact with the wine, so they stay moist and tightly sealed. As a result, wine bottles are generally laid on their sides when being stored for periods longer than a few weeks. When full cases cannot be stacked to keep bottles, horizontal, wine racks are used to house the individual bottles for both proper storage and easy access.

For ideal wine storage conditions, see Wine Storage. For information about storing wine at home, see Wine Cellars.

Contributed by: Marnie Old
Marnie Old is the Philadelphia area’s leading wine educator and highest profile sommelier. At 34, she is one of the youngest women to be sought after, both nationally and internationally, as a speaker on wine and beer. She is a member of the wine faculty at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and the regional wine educator for Wine & Spirits Magazine. Marnie writes beverage columns for Philadelphia Magazine and Pennsylvania’s Wine & Spirits Quarterly and is a contributing editor for Santé Magazine. She is the only wine professional in the region enrolled in the Master Sommelier program.