I know that you’re a wine lover and possibly making your own wine, but have you taken the next step and designed your own wine bottle rack? If you’re like me, you don’t just cherish wine. You cherish all things wine. You should see my wine rack. I built it myself because I am a hardcore wine lover. I also make my own wine, but that is not what I’m writing to talk to you about. The purpose of this article is to give you some knowledge on wine racks and why you should make yours a great one.

As we know, wine racks are meant to store our wine bottles.  A lot of people place their wine racks in closets or basements.  This always baffles me because having a wine rack in your house as both a place to store the wine and a decorative piece is a great thing!  My wine rack is easily the center of attention in my house when I have people over.  People love looking at the types of wine that that I have made.  So, if you’re one of those types of people that think the closest is the best place to store your wine, it’s time to get creative.

One important rule that you must keep in mind is that wine should not be stored in an area where the cork may dry out.  If you live in a dry climate, make sure you have a humidifier in the room that has the wine rack.  If the corks dry out, your wine will become oxidized, therefore spoiling the flavor and hard work that went into making it.  However, if you use synthetic corks (which I do) you will not have this problem.

You will want your wine to be stored at a moderate room temperature.  Do not store the wine rack where your wine will be exposed to heat and sun light.  This is also bad for the wine and will, again, spoil the festivities quicker than you can say, “more wine?”  Yes, I am funny.

I spoke earlier about making your own wine rack.  This is definitely something that I think you should think about doing.  For all the wine makers out there, we know how fulfilling making and bottling your own wine is.  Take this the next step of the way and build your own wine rack to store the bottles on.  I don’t know much about woodcraft.  I learned how to build the rack from a couple of guides out there.  But my wine rack is awesome.  It is made from maple wood.  I then painted it red and applied ‘damage’ to give it an old look.  Like I said, when I have people over, they cannot stop staring at it.  My wine rack get’s more attention than me which makes me sad.  I find myself in the corner during parties jealous of the wine rack that all of the ladies attach themselves to.

Your next step is to make your own wine because that, my friends, will impress all of your friends and family.

People often ask me how to make wine and how I got started.  I remember a couple of years ago when my me and my older brother were going to the same college, he made his own Mead in his basement.  Mead is an alcoholic drink made from honey and water, and my brother’s tasted sooooo good.  This was one of my first introductions to making wine in your own home.

Unfortunately, my brother is now at Western Michigan getting his PHD, so I no longer have access to his mead making skills.

I decided for myself that I would focus on making red wine instead of mead.  I thought it would require a lot more work, but it really doesn’t if you know what you are doing.

The first thing I do before starting a new hobby or project is research.  I hit the web and try to learn as much as I can while taking notes.  During my research, I had lots of help from my brother and bought multiple products.  There were some products that were great and others that weren’t.

The product isn’t as important as you getting up and taking action to make your own wine.  I believe that people are spending way too much time reading when they should be starting their homemade wine journey.  This will motivate you to building up your red wine making business.

My personal favorite of having my own winery in my home is the fact that you can give your homemade wine away as gifts!  Wine is always a great gift and my friends and family are always very thankful when they receive my gift.  Plus, it serves as a great addition to parties.  Just bring over a few bottles and people will be complimenting your homemade wine all night!

I want you to stop asking how to make wine at home.  Just start doing it and you will have more wine than you know what to do with.  Sure, the first batch takes some time, but before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to your second batch and then third and fourth and so on.  That is what happened to me and look at me now

Cheers and happy wine making!

-Jeff