How do you store your wine?

Most wine drinkers apparently do not have a "cellar", in the sense of a collection of wine that they will drink at some time in the future (How soon is wine consumed after purchase?). However, many of us do; and that immediately raises the specter of where to keep the bottles, and how to find one to drink with dinner tonight.

In 2019, Lettie Teague noted (Why wine lovers resist Marie Kondo-ing their cellars):

Many oenophiles I know -- myself included -- don’t have a system to keep track of the wines in our cellars. We buy bottles and put them away. I’ve definitely lost track of wines thanks to this methodless method over the years ... I’ve found whites deep in my racks that were a bit past their prime, and reds squirreled away in a EuroCave wine cooler that were almost completely over the hill.

I recognize that this apparent lack of method does have a method. The idea is that finding a bottle you have forgotten about is part of the fun of having a wine collection. (Talking about that collection is probably the main fun, though.) The forgotten bottle is an "expected" surprise, in the sense that it will definitely happen, even if we don't actually plan it. However, this seems to me to be a rather expensive way of being surprised, especially if it turns out to be a disappointment.

Mind you, most wine cellars are not arranged in a totally haphazard manner. For example, some people seem to prefer arranging things by region or grape type, or basing things on vintage date (Four ways to organize and manage your wine cellar). If so, then it is only within the groupings that things can get a bit vague.

Long ago, I decided that I want to control my vinous surprises, at least partly because I am not in the financial league that can afford to spend a lot of money on wine. (I know that I am not supposed to admit this: after all, a certain appearance of financial credibility is desirable in the world of wine cellars.)

My method actually grew out of necessity; and I mention it only because I have never heard anyone else suggest it. I did not have a basement or other separate location for storage; and nor could I afford a fancy place to store it (see Buying a wine cellar). So, the location was going to be in the bottom of a wardrobe or closet (where other people might keep their shoe collection). This is stable and dark if the cupboard is not opened very often. However, it seemed obvious that I should also keep the wine bottles within used wine boxes, which would enhance the temperate stability and darkness.

So, I simply decided to arrange the boxes by year of intended drinking. Upon purchase, I would decide on what might be a suitable year (or years), and I then stuck the wine (or wines) in the appropriate box (or boxes). When any box was full, it was sealed, and then remained undisturbed until the relevant year arrived.

At the beginning of January each year, I would open the appropriate boxes (4—5, if my wife and I have one good cellared wine per week). Then I would get my surprise, as I found out what wines I had squirreled away. Some I could remember buying, and some not. These bottles then get moved to a separate "drink soon" location, from which I select a wine each time I want one. The rest remain undisturbed.

So, like the squirrels, the hoard gets consumed while it is still in good condition. I like that, and I can certainly recommend it.

It is for this reason that I still use this system, even though I now have somewhere to store the wines in shelves, downstairs. A set of shelves is assigned to each year, and that is where I put new purchases. I do not need any fancy computerized inventory system to keep track of my bottles, and I do not need to worry about any of them missing their best drinking window. Nor do I need to hire a consultant to help me get organized; and I certainly don't have to remember what bottles I have, unless I especially want to.

I can still, of course, worry about the storage conditions, especially if the humidity gets a bit high, which it can do in summer. There must, after all, be something to wonder about, or why have a wine collection at all? As Leonard S. Bernstein once noted (The Official Guide to Wine Snobbery): "Every wine snob respects the thermostat."