Using a Wine Cabinet to Display Your Wine

Wine cabinets are one of the best ways you can store your valued wine collection, especially for long periods and for ageing.

However, it’s not always as simple as putting all your bottles in the wine cabinet - you want your wine to look good while it’s being stored.

But how can you use a wine cabinet to display your wine collection? Read on to learn more about wine cabinets and how you can store and display your wine most effectively.

What is a Wine Cabinet?

A wine cabinet is similar to a wine cooler in the sense that it’s designed to store your wine. However, wine coolers are best for storing your wine for shorter periods, whereas wine cabinets are the perfect place to store your wine in the long term and for ageing your wine.

There are a variety of factors that you should consider when storing your wine to ensure it looks, tastes, smells, and ages as well as it possibly can. For example, you should avoid storing your wine in sunlight, you should keep your wine cool, and ensure the right humidity levels.

This is where wine cabinets come in useful - they consider the important storage factors. Wine cabinets maintain a steady temperature for your wine, typically within the range of 11 and 14 degrees celsius. However, you can adjust the temperature of the majority of wine cabinets, allowing for a personalised experience.

You can find wine cabinets that have dual temperature zones or multiple temperature zones, which means that you can store different types of wine at different temperatures within the same unit - or store some bottles for long periods and store others for serving at the same time.

When you’re storing your wine for long periods, it’s important that you maintain the optimal humidity levels to prevent the cork from drying out. If the cork dries out, it could slip out of place and expose your wine to oxygen - which can cause your wine to deteriorate quickly. Too much humidity, however, can also be damaging to the wine.

It can cause moisture to appear around the bottle, promoting mould growth and damaging the label. Wine cabinets maintain humidity levels between 50% and 70%, which is the recommended humidity level for long term wine storage.

Wine cabinets also protect your wine from UV light which can be damaging to your wine, whether it be via a UV-treated glass door or a solid door. We’ll talk more about protecting your wine from sunlight further down this post.

Vibrations can affect how well your wine ages, which is why most quality and modern wine cabinets work to minimise vibrations. This is perfect for long-term wine storage, as vibrations can prevent sediment from settling in the wine, ultimately affecting the wine’s flavours.

How Do I Display My Wine in a Wine Cabinet?

Now you understand the ins and outs of wine cabinets, it’s time to find out how you can use a wine cabinet to display your wine collection. This is especially useful to know if your wine cabinet takes pride in place in your kitchen, dining room, or living room.

Doors

You usually have a choice between two types of doors when purchasing a wine cabinet - solid doors or glass doors. Glass doors are always UV-treated to protect your wine from UV light. UV exposure can cause light strike, which is a chemical reaction in the body of the wine. Light strike can cause your wine to taste unpleasant, and unfortunately, it’s an irreversible process.

Glass doors are a great choice if you plan on presenting your wine, whether it be in your home or a commercial setting. You can also find wine cabinets that feature touch to open technology, meaning you simply press the corner of the door to open it.

Some wine cabinets also feature door locks, which is a super convenient feature if you have teenagers or children in your home. After all, you don’t want them accessing your wine collection, do you?

Shelving

Most wine cabinets come with wooden shelves, but if you’re looking for a more modern or industrial look, you can find a quality wine cabinet with metal shelving. Many people prefer the style of a metal wine cabinet as opposed to a rustic, wooden look.

Most wine cabinets are designed to store your standard Bordeaux bottles, but if you have larger bottles (for example, Champagne or Prosecco) you should opt for a cabinet with sliding shelves or adjustable shelves.

Some wine cabinets also feature display shelves, which enables you to display your favourite, oldest, or most expensive bottles of wine. If you’re purchasing extra shelves for your wine cabinet, be sure to assess the depth and width to ensure the perfect fit.

Lighting

If you want your wine to look its best inside your wine cabinet, then be sure to choose a wine cabinet with LED lighting. Most wine cabinets with LED lighting have either orange LED lighting, blue LED lighting, or white LED lighting.

Some wine cabinets will allow you to adjust the colour of the lighting, which is especially useful in commercial settings. With wine cabinets that have solid doors, the lighting will usually automatically turn on when you open the door and off when you close it. However, the settings may be slightly different with wine coolers that have glass doors.

Most modern wine coolers have control panels that allow you to adjust the lighting, as well as the temperature and humidity.

Other Options

If you’ve read this post and decided that a wine cabinet isn’t for you, you could always try a wine cooler to store your wine and other drinks. Wine fridges are a great choice and share many features with wine cabinets.

Wine walls and wine racks may also be a great option for you - and these are the ultimate way to store your wine. Whether you choose a wall-mounted wine rack, a wooden wine rack with a rustic style, or a modern metal wine wall, your wine is sure to be displayed with opulence.