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laura517

Red Wine anyone? Show me your wine storage please!

Laura517
11 years ago

Hi there,
Trying to incorporate some sort of wine bottle storage, not in a wine or beverage fridge. but if you have any wine storage, built into your cabinets such as "mail slots" or crates, or if you have a neat wine rack, I would love to see photos.
We are down to the nitty gritty on kitchen cabinet order and this piece is proving to me more difficult to include in my cabinetry then I thought it would be. Much of it is about the dimensions. and making the other cabinets seem "off", but before I decide to delete it from our plan, maybe there is something that KD and I have not considered. Thank you!

Comments (23)

  • Laura517
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here is a scanned drawing of where we have the wine storage planned for our new kitchen. The glass cabinets will hold wine glasses and the space directly above the wine crate is an open shelf. I plan to store our booze in the cabinets below and like the idea of using this as a beverage center when we entertain. The cabinet run is only 48" but is next to the refrigerator.

  • angela12345
    11 years ago

    My wine cubbies are under the glass door cabinet. There aren't enough though !! Evidently I am more of a wino than I realized. : )

  • Tricia21
    11 years ago

    I'd love to see some as well. Ours will be on the bottom in a triangular space. At first I thought the diamonds would be good but now I'm thinking that might be hard to lean and I should just do the shelves with divets...

  • pps7
    11 years ago

    We have both wine storage and the wine fridge in out dining room built-in. I don't think I necessarily needed more storage than the wine fridge provides, but put it in there to visually break up the long row of cabinets. We also store our wine glass in there and it's a great spot to lay out food when entertaining.

    I really like the wine fridge for reds. It keeps it cooler than room temperature, but not too cold.

  • Laura517
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Angela- thank you, that looks nice. I know what you mean about needing more space for your wine :) Love your countertop! What is it?

    Tricia: What do you mean by "diamonds", is that what I have in my drawing? I think each triangular section will hold three bottles, but yes there will be some rolling if there's only 2 bottles in the bottom section. Have you considered cubbies like angela's?

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    Here is the wine storage we put in our rental condo

  • angela12345
    11 years ago

    This kitchen is at our beach house named A Pirates Life, so the granite naturally is Black Pearl. : )

    One day I will have backsplash. I even know what I am using (and have known since before the house was started being built). You would think I would get going on it and get it ordered !! This picture was also taken before the quarter round at the floor was stained.

    The wine cubbies are large enough that they will each hold one oversized bottle or two regular size bottles.

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    11 years ago

    We put our wine storage in the pantry. Just simple cubbies:

  • EATREALFOOD
    11 years ago

    I keep my wine in the corner on the counter next to a wire basket of shallots & garlic. Seeing the wine makes me happy as I anticipate the simple Italian meals to come...plus it looks great below the UCL. :)

  • taggie
    11 years ago

    Here is ours:

    Our cabinet maker originally spec'd the cubbies (that's what he usually builds) but I asked him to switch it to diamonds because we can fit 23 bottles with diamonds whereas the cubbies held only 15. Plus I like that when I look straight down at it I can see the various labels and know which wine I want to select without having to pull multiple bottles out of the cubbies to see what's what.

    I do think the cubbies look more modern though, whereas the diamonds are more traditional. Our kitchen is very traditional so the modern aesthetic wasn't a concern. It may be for you though ... what style are you going for?

    Have you considered possibly moving the wine storage to the base cabs; perhaps 3 equal sections of 16" each with the wine storage in center? Not sure if you have a specific use planned for the 12" deep drawers so that may not work for you.

    Good luck whatever you decide!

  • akcorcoran
    11 years ago

    To Laura517, if you don't have those yet, they will hold more wine than the little diamonds, and i think it is a more updated look, but be aware that you can really only ever get to the bottles on the "top of the pyramid" as they say. You can stack a bunch of wine in each of those four right triangles made by the criss cross. The issue is just that you can't pull from the bottom - or even middle or they'll roll on each other and smash.

    We had it in our plan and then decided to take the regular storage there. If I can only ever get to the top bottle of wine, then it might as well be out on the counter. :-)

    It does look nice to break up space though - and if you have the room and the inclination, go for it!

  • Laura517
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you to everyone who posted! These are all great ideas and so helpful. We are in the home stretch.

    Marcolo- I love the wine drawers and no I have not seen them before! So clever! Do you know how wide the drawer has to be?

    akcorcoran- I hope you're sleeping since I see you posted early early this morning! You are so smart to think about the top of pyramid issue! Thank you!

    taggie: I would like to do placemats in the top drawers and use one of the 3 very narrow drawers for napkin holders (this area is close to dining room). The other 2 narrow drawers will be for my kids "stuff"- pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, and the like.

    beagles: I like your cubbies in the pantry- that may work too!

    I am meeting with KD this morning and keeping my fingers crossed that
    Medallion makes the wine drawers!

  • fouramblues
    11 years ago

    I'm not a wine snob, just a big fan. So I have to say that kitchens can get pretty hot, not the best for long-term wine storage. Keeping wine in the kitchen short-term won't hurt the wine, and it does look nice. Just keep that in mind when you decide how much you want to store in the kitchen.

  • Tricia21
    11 years ago

    Laura - I meant the smaller diamonds. But what I think might work better for us is the shelf with divets for the wine. I saw a pic once and can't find it again....

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    I realize this won't help you, but I build this in our basement....

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    The one, probably obvious, thing I want to mention is not to put them in that convenient place above the fridge. You see that a lot.
    The temperature is not good for wine storage.
    Too many KDs, design showrooms, and just folks who don't know do this. Looks great, but it can damage the wine.

    I love all these ideas.

  • hobokenkitchen
    11 years ago

    Here's ours - sorry it's blurry but I had to super crop it to get the wine rack in shot and with the baby finally sleeping peacefully (she has a nasty head cold), I'm not moving an inch in case I wake her! : )
    I was a little taken aback when it wasn't diamonds, but now I like it and I think it gives the most capacity. We have an outlet behind the rack so we can switch out for a fridge down the line if we want to.

  • Laura517
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you again for all the advice and ideas! That's why I love GW!

    CEFreeman: I know that is a common mistake- I'ld like to think that most folks are now aware that above the fridge is the last place you should put your wine.
    But then again, what about olive oil next to the stove? That's the most convenient place to keep it, and where most folks store it, but exposing it to the heat is also bad for the olive oil.

    I am keeping my design the way it is, although we tweaked the cabinet so the bottom doors line up with the glass doors above. I've decided that the "crate" wine storage is fine for us- and I like the way it breaks up the cabinetry. No wine drawers available through Medallion, but I'm fine with it.

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago

    Wine is optimally kept at 55 degrees, in a dark place, without large temperature fluctuations, so the kitchen, or at least, my kitchen doesn't work.

    Here is a link that might be useful: storing wine

  • taggie
    11 years ago

    hoboken, I really like your wine storage! I think it's a nice blend of function (max bottle storage, viewable labels) with form (square lines look a little more contemporary). Although you weren't expecting it to start with it was definitely a happy accident. :-)

  • Laura517
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Angie: Nice collection! Everyone should have one of those in their basements! The built-in crates are awesome too!

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    Thank you, Laura! I built it with the explicit intention of changing $8 bottles of wine into $9 bottles! ;-)

    I do like having it in the basement. Ready supply (since it is pretty big), at a good temperature.