The overall cost of a wooden wine cellar will be reflected in the type of room construction you intend to undertake. Properly constructed cellar spaces must be framed, wired, insulated, and finished in a way that supports the long-term storage of wine in cool, humid conditions. Once the room is constructed, other expenses for your wine cellar include floor and wall treatments, doors and windows, specialty lighting and décor, not to mention the wine racks.

Wood wine cellar racking will vary in price depending on the wood used for the racking, whether the wood is finished at the factory, how much of the cellar is meant to be decorative as opposed to just utility-style wine storage and whether the racking is kit-based (less expensive) or custom (more expensive). However, high-grade wood wine cabinets, wood wall wine racks, and related storage products are well worth the investment for the serious collector.

Most wood types can be used for creating wine cellar racks. The type of wood you use in your wine cellar is often more a question of budget than performance. Popular styles include a wide range of softwood and hardwood species including pine, redwood, western red cedar, alder, white oak, walnut, cherry, and mahogany.

In certain circumstances where the wine cellar is extremely humid, many buyers prefer redwood over others due to the naturally occurring chemicals in redwood that make the heartwood extremely resilient and resistant to molds and mildew. Each species presents unique visual characteristics and imparts a specific look and feel to the wine cellar. To a large extent, the ideal wooden wine rack or wood wine holder depends on your visual preferences.

Wood wine racks come in a vast array of shapes and sizes. Building a racking system for an entire room can be challenging given the number of options available. When deciding on the room’s layout it’s important to consider what types of wine storage you will need for your wine collection. If you buy wine in bulk without a lot of variety, wine cubes, bins, and shelving are a great way to store quantities of “like” bottles together. If you collect wines from many sources and need to store loose bottles filled with different varietals you’ll want to invest in racking for various styles of 750ml bottles, 1.5L magnums & champagne bottles, decorative wooden wine cases, cardboard cases, and even 3L display bottles, Jeroboams, or carboys (for those who make wine). Depending on budget and how custom you wish your cellar to be, there are other wood components in a wine cellar that can add value and enjoyment. Custom wood soffits and moldings, library ladders, custom countertops, tongue and groove wall paneling, flooring and reclaimed wood wine barrels are all popular features and often built into the plans of a wooden wine cellar. From wood wine bottle holders to wooden wine racks, there is a large range of products to choose from.

Most climate-controlled wine cellars are built to maintain a temperature between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit with 70% relative humidity. Cellaring red wines for long periods under these conditions is the best way to ensure they mature properly and don’t become “corked” by oxidation that occurs when closures lose integrity and air gets into the bottle. Many wine cellar cooling systems offer sophisticated options that allow you to store specific types of wines under very specific conditions. For example, collectors who specialize in champagnes or other collectible white wines can keep their wine cellar at 45 degrees, actively add humidity into the cellar in dry climates or monitor their wine cellars with wifi apps that report their cellar’s temperature and humidity from anywhere in the world.

When it comes to finding storage products for your valuable wine, wood racks should be chosen based on aesthetics as well as budgetary constraints. The best wood wine cellar racks will be the ones that match your wine collection best while offering high quality that is also cost-effective.

Well-designed wood wine cellar racks make efficient use of your cellar space while also allowing you to display your bottles in interesting ways, should you choose to do so. With so many individual wood parts in a rack, overall craftsmanship, fit, and finish are important to avoid ending up with a cheap-looking rack. Selecting the right wood racks for wine bottles will save you a lot of time, money, and stress in the long run.