Best Orientation of Wine Bottles in Your Wine Cellar Racks

Educating yourself on the types and styles of wine cellar racks will help you determine not only which wine rack suits your wine cellar, but the right way to store your wines  within it. After purchasing wine racks for your wine cellar, make sure that you store your wines the right way. Proper wine storage will not only benefit you, but also your family and friends, to whom you will serve the wine. You can store your wines in horizontal, vertical or tilted position.

Horizontal wine storage is an ideal way to store your wines in wine racks. This will prevent wine from unwanted contact with air or air pockets by keeping the cork moist and swelled. When placing your wine bottles horizontally, sediment will fall to the side of the bottle, preventing spoilage when pouring wine. This option is good for long-term storage and allows full visibility of the wine labels. You can buy simple horizontal wine racks for an affordable price and you can add more racks easily if there’s a need to.

Horizontal Wine Storage
Horizontal Wine Storage Keeps the Cork Moist and Swelled

These wine racks are ideally made of wood or metal are can be placed on the floor, mounted on the wall or used on tabletops or countertops. You can choose decorative or stylish horizontal wine racks to enhance the beauty of your custom wine cellar.

Storing wine bottles in a vertical position will provide easy viewing of the bottle labels, but it will dry out and shrink the corks. If this happens, air will get into the bottle and cause wine spoilage. The cork will crumble into your bottle when you try to remove it, thus compromising your wine’s quality. Storing wines vertically is preferably used for short-term storage or dining occasions. Wines that are meant to be consumed while young will be safe when stored in vertical wine racks.

Vertical Wine Storage
Vertical Wine Storage is Ideal for Wines Meant to be Consumed While Young

Another way to store wines is in tilted position. Avoid buying tilted wine racks as they can cause the corks to dry out, or allow sediments to accumulate near the cork. If you really want to store your wines in these wine racks, you have to make sure that the proper tilt is achieved at all times. This will require you to rotate your bottles periodically to ensure moisture on all sides of the cork. It is suggested that you store wine bottles tilted at a slight upward angle to allow the cork to stay damp.

Tilted Wine Storage
Tilted Wine Storage with Bottom of Bottles Tilted at a Slight Upward Angle

Most wine collectors display wines in a way that it reflects their taste and ensures proper preservation of their wines. Bottle orientation can be a form of art, but it is important that you keep in mind proper storage guidelines.