If you’re a wine lover or just a casual wine drinker, you’ll need a good wine rack to store your collection, large or small. Interestingly, wine racks are not only functional but are now considered part of home decor. Let’s examine the various types of wine racks to help you determine which wine rack is best for your home.

When buying a wine rack, first ask yourself how many bottles you wish to store, and how many bottles you have on hand at one time. Since the spectrum of wine racks is expanding, you’ll have various options, from table top wine racks to wine racks holding hundreds of wine bottles. You may even want to consider more than one wine rack if your collection is large.

Your decorating preferences and personal style will also come into play. Do you want to wall mount your wine rack, or is a table top wine rack sufficient? Do you prefer your wine rack situated discreetly in a corner, or would you prefer a centerpiece stylish addition to your home? Wine rack options are plentiful, so consider form and functionality.

Think about the flow and texture of your home decor. Without question, there’s a wine rack that fits perfectly for you. Consider a wooden wine rack if your home decor is rustic or antique oriented. You may want to purchase a steel or brushed metal wine rack if your home trends more modern or minimalist.

Since wine is an important part of our entertaining friends and colleagues, a multiple use, stylish wine rack is perfect for our home. We chose a focal point “wine center” that beautifully combines storage for our wine bottles, wine glasses, wine accessories, and wine art. Further, our wine center is a warm and welcoming focal point in our living room.

In general, wooden wine racks are the easiest to match with most home decors, but of course that choice is entirely up to you. We prefer a handsome, aged wood look to a wine rack, because it lends a vibe associated with drinking and enjoying wine.

Wine racks are available in numerous price points, from under $30 to several thousand dollars. Most wine collectors own more than one wine rack, both for storage and convenience reasons. We prefer one central wine storage center, and a smaller wine rack for some of our purchases on our U.S. wine trails travels.

With numerous styles and price points of wine racks available, your choices are varied. Have a little fun choosing your wine rack, just as you would choosing your wines. Wine is all about enjoyment, and your wine rack can add to your wine enjoyment and the stylish decor of your home.

Whether you are young and starting out in life, or are retired and ready to explore the world, if you really want to know wine then you need to visit California Wine Country. This region has hundreds of vineyards to explore, beautiful and lush valleys and many fun activities to enjoy. No matter what area you choose to visit - Sonoma Valley to Napa Valley, Santa Barbara to Medocino - there are tons of great vineyards to see and many other activities you can partake in.

Since you don’t want to be drinking and driving you’ll want to make sure that you have a safe ride planned for your tour. Choose from limo, bus, jeep, train and even hot air balloon. There is a package that will fit every budget, from measly to monstrous.

If you don’t want to just limit yourself to wine tours and tastings you can find great tours that offer other activities such as meals, dinner theatre or even mountain biking. If you want to relax and enjoy, feel free to book yourself some spa accommodations. Booking tours online is a breeze and you can customize a trip to be perfectly suited to you. If you are in for a bit of adventure you can even book a surprise tour where you will never know what will happen next! And if at any time you want to change your tour this should be no problem.

To find the tours that interest you most, you may begin by searching by destination, most popular tours, or by what activities various vineyards offer. There are many excellent on-line guides available, with stunning photographs of California vineyards, travel recommendations, and historic information. California wine country is vast and statewide, with different offerings throughout the year. The weather can also be a factor, and you may want to check ahead of time with tour operators or the specific vineyards you would like to visit, as to what they recommend to ensure that your trip is memorable for all the right reasons!

Each trip to California wine country can be as unique as you are. Plan a romantic trip for you and your loved one with picturesque bed and breakfasts, or a lush spa and stately hotel room. Whatever you choose you will want to book your trip early as many other people are wanting to visit at the same time as you are. No matter what your preference or budget, if you love wine then you owe it to yourself to experience California wine country just once in your life.

Several years ago, my wife and I began collecting wine from our U.S. wine trails adventures. At first, we used our basement to store the wine, graduating to a handsome wine rack a few years later. Only after a few bottles didn’t meet our taste expectations did we learn the importance of proper wine storage.

A few years ago at a dinner party, we served a bottle of wine from one of our favorite New Mexico wineries, regaling our friends with how much we enjoyed it at the tasting room. To our disappoinment, the wine tasted well below expectations when opened and served. Only later did we learn that we’d stored the wine improperly, which accounted for the off taste.

Improper Humidity Affects Taste

Although excess humidity makes us uncomfortable, proper humidity levels are critical for wine’s health. If your wine cellar or storage area is too dry, your wine will have an off taste at the very least. Aim for humidity levels of anywhere from 50% to 70%. Most good wine cellars have humidity controls built in to ensure optimal levels. If not, your wine collection will suffer.

Proper Temperature

Extreme temperatures are an enemy to wine, whether it’s too hot or too cold. Wine is best stored at 55 to 57 degrees. A good wine cellar takes temperature levels into consideration and even allows you to arrange different temperature zones for specific storage needs. Also, air circulating fans should be designed into wine cellars to help maintain a constant temperature and humidity level.

The Less Light The Better

Infiltrating light is the last of wine’s big three enemies. Always keep your wines away from excess sunlight. Even wines in dark colored bottles should not be exposed to direct sunlight as in addition to the ultraviolet rays, sunlight affects the internal bottle temperature. Make absolutely sure your wine cellar or other storage area has minimal light, especially if you’re storing white wine or sensitive red varieties.

Other Tips

Believe it or not, vibration is another enemy of stored wine, so keep your wine storage area as vibration free as possible. A lower traffic area is always better, as vibration will tend to be less. We learned long ago that when bringing home wine from our U.S. wine trail trips, store the wine within the car vs. the trunk. Temperature and vibration conditions are much worse in the trunk.

Wine collecting is a rewarding hobby, and a little attention to detail will help you enjoy your wine to its fullest potential. Keep temperature and humidity conditions at optimal levels, and store your wine in a dark, quiet place. Doing so will allow you the best of payoffs - great wine that tastes great. Cheers!