Wine Racking Options: Custom, Carpenter Built, and Kits.

So, you have decided to build a wine room in the house. Maybe climate controlled, maybe not, but definitely with enough wood racks to hold a few hundred bottles.Your plan is to have redwood racks but where do you get the racks and who is going to install them? Do you use a carpenter to build them using your design? Do you buy a wine rack kit from a website? Do you hire a company that specializes in designing and building wine rooms? There are many factors to consider in making this decision. I will try to illuminate the various issues involved and use some real life stories to illustrate.

Most good carpenters can build the racks if you give them a detailed design. The tricky thing is that they will not likely know much about the size of wine bottles and how to size the openings correctly. Recently a custom home builder called me for advice. He had his carpenter build the individual bottle racks and the openings were too big for the bottles. He wanted me to tell him the correct dimensions for the openings. I suggested that he buy some wine bottles and a caliper, or hire me.

There are some very well made wine rack kits on the market at reasonable prices. The problem with kits is that you are limited to the sizes that are available. This could be limiting in that you will design your storage system around the kits versus around your room and your collection.