How to store wine at home without a cellar

Most people who love wine don't have a cellar, and most wine doesn't need one. If you drink your bottles within a year or two of buying them, any reasonably cool, dark spot will do. It's only for long-term ageing that conditions really start to matter.

I've been lucky: since I started storing wine, I've always had a cellar or a wine fridge. If I didn't, I'd do exactly what this guide suggests and find the coldest, darkest place in my home, like a wardrobe.

What does wine need?#

In order of importance:

1. Steady temperature. Big daily swings do more harm than a slightly high average. See our guide to wine storage temperature for the details.
2. Coolness. Ideally 12 to 14°C. Anything under about 18°C is fine for a few years.
3. Darkness. Light, especially sunlight, damages wine. Clear and pale bottles suffer first.
4. Bottles on their side, if they have corks.
5. Moderate humidity. Not bone dry, not damp.

Where in a home is best?#

Go looking for the space that's cool, dark, and away from anything that heats up. Good candidates:

• An inside wardrobe or cupboard on an outside wall facing north (or south, in the southern hemisphere).
• The space under the stairs.
• A basement or cellar corner, even an unfinished one.
• A spare room that you don't heat.
• The bottom of a closet, since warm air rises and floors are cooler.

Places to avoid:

• The kitchen. It's the warmest room in most homes, and the temperature jumps every time you cook.
• The top of the fridge, which is warm and vibrates.
• Near radiators, boilers, ovens or dishwashers.
• Windowsills and sunny shelves.
• Lofts and attics, which get very hot in summer and cold in winter.
• Most garages, unless they stay cool all year.

How do you check if a spot is good enough?#

Buy a cheap digital thermometer that records the highest and lowest temperatures, and leave it in the spot for a week, ideally during warm weather. If it stays under about 18°C with a swing of only a degree or two a day, it's good enough for most bottles. If it hits 25°C or swings five degrees between day and night, keep looking.

How should you store the bottles?#

• On their side if they have natural corks, so the wine keeps the cork moist. Screw caps and synthetic corks can stand up.
• In a simple rack or in the cardboard box they came in, laid on its side. Cardboard holds up fine in dry spaces.
• Labels facing up, so you can read them without moving the bottles.
• The wines you'll drink first at the front, the long-term ones at the back.

When is a wine fridge worth it?#

If your home is warm and you want to keep wines for more than a couple of years, a wine fridge is the simplest fix. Small ones holding 12 to 24 bottles fit under a counter and don't cost much.

A regular kitchen fridge is fine for a few weeks but too cold and dry for long-term storage.

What about professional storage?#

For a small number of valuable bottles that need ten years or more, professional storage is worth a look. Many wine merchants and specialist warehouses store wine in ideal conditions for a yearly fee per case. It also helps if you ever sell, since buyers pay more for wines with a known storage history.

Should you change what you buy?#

If your best spot is around 18 to 20°C, it makes sense to buy mostly wines that are ready to drink soon and to drink them within a couple of years. Keep a few special bottles somewhere cooler, or in professional storage. There's no point buying a wine that needs fifteen years of ageing and storing it where it'll be tired after five.

Keep track of what's where#

Once bottles are spread across a cupboard, a rack and a box under the stairs, it's easy to forget what you have. Smart Wine Cellar's virtual wine rack lets you map each spot, even an improvised one, so you can find any bottle by its exact location.