Starting a wine collection doesn’t always require a cellar. Although yes, having somewhere ancient and musty-seeming to lead your guests will make the wine seem more important and mysterious. But if you’re an apartment dweller, and/or have to use your limited basement space for say, all the stuff we tend to accumulate in life, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a modest and space-efficient wine storage system. Just look to your countertop.
Countertops of course won’t have the kind of lower temps and low light that true wine cellaring requires, so think of this more as a way to store wine that you plan on drinking on a fairly regular basis. Like our wine-under-the-stairs post (not nearly as terrifying as it sounds), the idea is all about some sleek-looking efficiency, nothing with scrolling vines (unless you like that kind of thing), just something to maximize space a bit handsomely and keep your favorite ten or more bottles close at hand.
Efficiency Is My Aperitif
This one’s got efficiency and spare futurism-sleekness going for it at the same time—8 bottles that crest at the top, so you get a bit of drama but nothing too visually noisy. Plus, it’s $25.
Wine Bouquet? Yes Please.
A new meaning for the term “wine bouquet,” an actual visual bouquet of wine bottles that stores a half dozen bottles without cluttering up too much counter space. And again goes for just over 20 bucks.
Because You Love Wine
A little pricier, but now we’re in handmade mahogany territory, the kind of thing you invite your friends over to see. Capacity for 16 bottles that could still fit pretty snuggly in a corner.
Because you’re Country
Sure, a smaller storage wine rack (3 bottles, tops), but you get to tell folks it’s handmade in Little Elm, Texas, and retails for under $30 bucks. And was probably touched by a cowboy.
The “No Two Alike” Option
Beyond the rustic, organic design you get recycled points—all wine racks are hand carved from fir tree stumps, meaning no two are alike (except they’ll all hold 6 bottles of your favorite wine, and make you look ultra-eco-chic, for about $30).
To Show You Love Wine AND Recycling
You love wine, wine culture, even old wine barrels. This rack made from Napa Valley wine barrels holds 12 bottles with only 16” of horizontal counter space. Perfect for the household with yearly viewings of Sideways.
Just Ultra Quaint
You’ll get less wine storage—three bottles max—but you also get space for four wine glasses. Handmade from reclaimed wood, and hand-painted (to your preference), it’s got the quaint charm of a Quaker country kitchen (except folks here drink).
The Minimalist Futuristic Option
Nine bottles, three tiers of curving stainless steel that, if you like at them just the right way, kind of resemble the Guggenheim Bilbao (or the lesser, non-Ghery, Massachusetts Neiman Marcus). All that sleek class and efficient storage for $20.
Steampunk Six Bottle Wine Rack
If your sense of home décor scheme looks anything like a steampunk dream, this’ll fit right in—and fit six bottles. Plus, it looks so fierce, even if you put a bunch of Nikki Minaj moscato in here, no one’s gonna step to you.
Ultra-Splurge
We had to include this, because it exists, costs $10,950, and is apparently on offer by “Drake.” Not necessarily that one, but we can dream. It does hold 19 wine bottles, and is vintage—from the 1960s. Possibly designed by Phillip Lloyd Powell, but (we’re hoping?) sold by Dizzy.
Emily Bell
***Grabbed from: http://vinepair.com/wine-blog/10-elegant-and-efficient-countertop-storage-solutions-for-your-wine/