Hanging Wine Racks

The Benefits Of Hanging Wine Racks
By Kate Neville 

Anyone who loves wine knows that you should store it properly to ensure that it’ll be at its best when the time comes to drink it. However, for people who don’t have a lot of space, doing that can be difficult. Hanging wine racks are a great solution to this problem. They work well for neatly keeping your wine in a space that won’t otherwise get used. Most of them are mounted on the wall, and hold six bottles of wine and up. A hanging wine rack can be pretty inexpensive, too - around twenty dollars for models in wood, steel, and other metals. Of course, if you want an elaborate, large, or decorative rack, you’ll pay quite a bit more. Those who want out of the way functionality may want to try an under the cabinet model that’s very inexpensive and unobtrusive.

While keeping your wine in a hanging wine rack designed for it goes a long way toward keeping it fresh, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay attention to the environment it’s in. Avoid hanging your wine rack in warm, dry, or bright places, like near the stove or heater or by a window. Look for a dark or dim place that tends to be cool and has a higher humidity to keep the cork from drying out. A dry cork means that oxygen can enter, causing your wine to spoil. That means that if you’re planning to get a hanging wine rack that’s for display, think about placement first.

Also, make sure that hanging wine racks are mounted sturdily. If you’re using a wall rack, be sure that the support for it is adequate. Finding the wall studs and anchoring the wine rack there is usually enough to keep your wine hanging on the wall, not falling to the floor. Of course, you should orient your wine rack properly, too. Hang it so that the wine inside is seated horizontally or at a downward angle. Allowing your wine to sit upright encourages cork drying.

Prevent light from getting to your wine as well. Sunlight might look good shining through your glass bottles, but it will overheat your wine, essentially cooking it. Wine is ideally kept at around fifty-five degrees for long term storage, and between that temperature and seventy degrees for short term storage. While not all of us have ideal conditions available for keeping our wine, it’s a good idea to get things as close as you can. If you can’t keep your wine cool and in the dark, be sure to drink it quickly, for the best taste.