Wine Rack sizes

[Alex Bridgeman]

I'm considering racking some of my storage, which currently is occupied by stacked 6 bottle boxes 3 deep and 8 high. Great for getting the maximum volume into the space available but a pig when you want something from the box in the bottom of the farthest corner. To make life easier I am considering racking the space with racks pushed 3 deep so the most I would need to move would be 2 bottles to get at the one I want.

I am assuming that a wall space covered with a wine rack will hold fewer bottles than I can store when the bottles are in boxes. However, I don't know how severe this trade-off might be so I decided to ask for help.

Could anyone who has either the wooded batten / metal strip or the wooden batten / wood dowling type of wine racking do me a favour and measure the height and width of the racking and let me know what these measurements are and how many slots the racking provides. Please don't include any slots which lie on the top of the rack, just those which have racking structure on all 4 sides.

Thanks in advance.

[Doggett]

Hi Alex,

I recently bought 2 of the 90 bottle racks from the Wine Society (see link) these have enough space internally for 80 wines and a further 10 on top if used landscape. The measurements for this are 100.06 cm x 81.5 cm. Please note that these dimensions differ on the height given by the website by 10cm which I assume is them allowing clearance for a bottles to be placed on the top row.

Hope that helps,

Simon

https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/pro ... =&cc=WTYPE

[flash_uk]

I'm also in the process of searching for racking for my new cellar. The example Simon linked to is probably the best I've seen in terms of density/price ratio. Trying to increase density above this means very sharp price increases. For example I did like these, however for the 25% improvement in bottle density, the price more than triples in comparison.

[jdaw1]

The WineWare calculator implies n×95mm + 35mm.

[Jasper May]

I got my racks from A & W Moore in Derbyshire (http://www.wineracks.co.uk), they seemed to provide an affordable rack that has proven strong enough. When I ran out of wall space, free standing units provided quite a dense solution, two double depth racks back to back (i.e. 4 bottles deep) with a wood top (which I use for storing more cases) is quite space efficient, but does require access from both sides.

I attach a picture, since my explanations are usually inadequate !

2016-01-25 small.jpg (210.28 KiB) Viewed 10071 times

[LGTrotter]

I have got some of the wooden doweling racks with some wood and metal strip racking stood on top of them and the wood and metal are definitely more space efficient.

The wood and doweling are 105mm between centres but the wood the dowel slots into sticks out bit further round the edges adding a further 15mm to each edge of the racking. The advantage is that you can be a bit more flexible (mine are under the stairs and it was easy to build a stepped edge) and they don't scuff the labels like the metal ones do. But you can always put a bit of gaffer tape on the metal ones to protect the labels.

[LGTrotter]

I got my racks from A & W Moore in Derbyshire (http://www.wineracks.co.uk), they seemed to provide an affordable rack that has proven strong enough. When I ran out of wall space, free standing units provided quite a dense solution, two double depth racks back to back (i.e. 4 bottles deep) with a wood top (which I use for storing more cases) is quite space efficient, but does require access from both sides.

I attach a picture, since my explanations are usually inadequate !

Blimey Jasper, that's a beautiful picture! Cellar envy here I come. You are most heartily welcome to .

[LGTrotter]

I like the way most of the labels are slightly out of focus, always leave something to the imagination.

[jdaw1]

Blimey Jasper, that's a beautiful picture! Cellar envy here I come. You are most heartily welcome to .

Indeed. Château Rieussec is always good news.

[Jasper May]

I like the way most of the labels are slightly out of focus, always leave something to the imagination.

Thank you very much for the welcome - sadly when I get to my cellar the labels do often look out of focus in real life...

[Jasper May]

Blimey Jasper, that's a beautiful picture! Cellar envy here I come. You are most heartily welcome to .

Indeed. Château Rieussec is always good news.

It is one of my favourite Sauternes, I am fond of the citrus notes it often has...

[LGTrotter]

To return to the topic, the metal/batten racks I have are 100mm between centres (wood/batten 105mm between centres). I think that Jasper is right that double depth racks would be a good option. I have never seen triple depth racks. I don't think it would work to stand separate racks in front of each other. I don't think you would be able to get bottles out of the rear rack. The only other issue is what bottles will you be putting in them? Dom Perignon bottles are a very tight squeeze in the metal/batten type (you will ruin the labels) and Comtes de Champagne won't fit at all. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't have many of these bottles so I put them on the top of the racks.

What about those wavy all metal jobs? They are supposed to be very space efficient.

[Andy Velebil]

Alex,
Racking is all different sizes, so you will need to find one you are interested in and then see what it holds for your space requirement.

Regardless of what you end up going with do keep this in mind, which I've learned from others who have bought racking. Make sure you get a bottle opening that fits your needs. Most are built for standard old style Bordeaux bottles and don't always fit some older Port and more modern types of bottles that are wider and taller. In our case the likes of some Kopke, Niepoort, etc.

Also depth of the racking may not accommodate 3 bottles (think newer taller Taylor's style).

Also, with metal racking the metal strips tend to rip up labels if one is not very careful putting them in and taking them out. A solution to this, if you chose this type, is to put some sturdy tape on the upper and lower metal bars so the bottles don't scrape on them when inserting/removing. Metal of course takes up less space than a full wood racking.

[Alex Bridgeman]

This has been a very helpful thread so far, thanks to everyone contributing.

My next step is to get the tape measure out and measure the space that I have available, but I do like the look of those diagonal bins that really only hold 40 bottles - but they look very pretty...

[flash_uk]

This has been a very helpful thread so far, thanks to everyone contributing.

My next step is to get the tape measure out and measure the space that I have available, but I do like the look of those diagonal bins that really only hold 40 bottles - but they look very pretty...

It think they do actually hold 44. The top and bottom sections take 12 bottles, while the two side sections take 10.

[PhilW]

Have just measured the wood/metal racking we have, as follows:
: 99.5mm Per slot (measured from centre of wooden spar to centre of next wooden spar)
: 98.5mm Slot inner width (from inside metal to inside metal on opposite side, and hence maximum bottle diameter)
: 19mm Wooden spar half-diagonal (from wooden spar centre, to wooden spar edge along metal)
Overall therefore, the rack width/height is (N*99.5 + 2*19) in mm, where N is the number of bottles wide/high.
Two extra issues to note: since the racking comes in pre-determined sizes, if your space does not fit a standard size you would need to account for the additional spar widths at either size if placing racks next to each other, or make appropriate measurement adjustments if joining the racks (or cutting them down from single larger initial size; also note that some racks include diagonal spars at the back for rigidity, which I assume you would need to leave off in order to use multiple racks in front of each other to get the depth needed.

[jdaw1]

Is triple-depth a good idea? How long are your arms? How thin are your arms? How straight are your arms when carrying a bottle at full extension? Methinks double the maximum sensible.

[DRT]

Is triple-depth a good idea? How long are your arms? How thin are your arms? How straight are your arms when carrying a bottle at full extension? Methinks double the maximum sensible.

Perhaps part of the cunning plan is to put bottles that should be out of reach for ten years or more at the back?

[Andy Velebil]

Is triple-depth a good idea? How long are your arms? How thin are your arms? How straight are your arms when carrying a bottle at full extension? Methinks double the maximum sensible.

Perhaps part of the cunning plan is to put bottles that should be out of reach for ten years or more at the back?

His life coach keeps him quite thin. Maybe he should go 4 deep racking, being moderately vertical challenged like many of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[uncle tom]

Is triple-depth a good idea?

I think no - even with long slender arms!

Conventional double depth wine racks are only marginally less space efficient than owcs, and the chaotic design of VP cases makes a good case for racking bottles.

You will have difficulty reaching the rear bottles if the rack is taller than you are, and it is also a struggle if the lowest tier is right on the ground - seating the racks on an inch of plywood made a big difference to me.

- If using single depth racking, get racks that are 12" deep rather than 9" - the shallow ones are not very stable at height.

- The jointing kits for racks are a pain to use, if starting over I would now use a multitude of racks that are 5 or 6 holes wide.

- There is a big difference in rack prices, so shop around. They are easily damaged in transit, and I saved a great deal when kitting out cellar #3 by picking the racks up in my van.

- The metal edges of the racks are notorious for snagging back labels - wrapping short pieces of silver duct tape round each one solves the problem, and if neatly done is barely visible. (Tip: The adhesive on duct tape readily fouls scissor blades - have a can of lighter fuel handy and wet the blades every four or five cuts)

[PhilW]

(Tip: The adhesive on duct tape readily fouls scissor blades - have a can of lighter fuel handy and wet the blades every four or five cuts)

So, you're in a cellar, possibly the lowest room in the house, perhaps the only ventilation might be a higher-up fan, and you're constructing your racking for maybe 1000 bottles. Every 3 or four bottles you spray your scissors with lighter fluid, which if I remember correctly is heavier than air... Aside from remember not to turn any electrics on or off, you'd probably best not put your head too near the floor either!

[jdaw1]

(Tip: The adhesive on duct tape readily fouls scissor blades - have a can of lighter fuel handy and wet the blades every four or five cuts)

So, you're in a cellar, possibly the lowest room in the house, perhaps the only ventilation might be a higher-up fan, and you're constructing your racking for maybe 1000 bottles. Every 3 or four bottles you spray your scissors with lighter fluid, which if I remember correctly is heavier than air... Aside from remember not to turn any electrics on or off, you'd probably best not put your head too near the floor either!

No. Have the rack delivered to the front door. Outside, in natural sunlight with a gentle freshening breeze, do the lighter-fluid tricks. Then take the rack into the cellar.

[PhilW]

No. Have the rack delivered to the front door. Outside, in natural sunlight with a gentle freshening breeze, do the lighter-fluid tricks. Then take the rack into the cellar.

Ah, your racks are pre-made; mine were self-assemble, and the assembled size might preclude post-assembly transport to cellar depending on sub-assembly size. To be fair though, pre-taping of parts would still be possible.

[DRT]

A layer of explosive gas on the floor of your cellar could prove to be the ultimate cellar defender if you put all your good stuff on the bottom row

[uncle tom]

which if I remember correctly is heavier than air...

Yes, about 4.4 times heavier than air, and CO2 is 1.7 times heavier. But does the CO2 fall to the ground and suffocate us? No, because gases are sociable things that dissolve into each other and then don't separate out until the components start to condense.

Petrol vapour will initially descend due to its density, but will then disperse, even if there are no air currents.

To get an explosive atmosphere, petrol vapour needs to reach at least 1.2% concentration. If your cellar is big enough to house 1000 rack holes, it is going to be around 25m3 or more in capacity, which would require 300 litres of petrol vapour, which is just over two litres in the liquid state, or about ten times more than is needed to wet your scissor blades a couple of hundred times.

Provided you don't spray the stuff around, you won't have a problem in even the most stuffy cellar.