When you start buying specific wines because you like them, you start buying wine by the case, because, well, you're going to drink it, eventually, and it's cheaper by the case. Now, me, for instance, I found a Washington Shiraz I liked very much indeed, and then I found a Riesling, and a Gewürztraminer . . .
Before you know it, instead of a couple of bottles in a cupboard, and an opened bottle in the 'fridge, you've got 36 bottles of wine.
They won't all fit in the cupboard, and there's no sense in putting a Shiraz in the fridge, and so you start thinking about what to do with all your lovely wine. Now, oenophiles will buy wines with the intent of keeping it until it "ages," and "develops," for several years—but they're also buying wines that are upwards of $25.00 a bottle.
That's not what I'm talking about right now, though maybe, some day . . . I'm talking about the table wines that you find locally, possibly from artisanal winemakers, or bottles from a particular winery that you got an amazing deal on. We're talking storing wine so you can enjoy it later, rather than storing wine to age it. We're talking about storage for two years or less.
First of all, these are the things you want to avoid. Don't store your wine where it will be exposed to:
- Light
- Odor
- Vibrations (from motors, or fans, or compressors, for instance)
You want the location to be:
- Warm (around 54 degrees F. but not higher than say 68 F)
- Dark
- Quiet
- Dry
- Very little fluctuation in temperature
That means not on top of the fridge, or in an open wine rack in the kitchen. But possibly inside a cool cabinet, with a door you can shut, or a linen closet, or a coat closet.
You could certainly buy special shelves or wine racks, but honestly, an empty cardboard wine box meant to hold a dozen bottles from your local store, turned on its side, is quite adequate. You'll want to turn the wine bottles on their side, whereever you store them, to keep the cork moist. Traditionally, you'd store your wines "label side up," so you could watch for sediment, but with modern table wines, that's less of an issue—but do keep an eye on sediment with artisanal wines. You also want to make very sure that the temperature is fairly constant, not a lot of fluctuation on either side of 54 F. And you don't want to shift the bottles around, either. Store them until you're ready to move them in order to drink them.
Now, if you want special shelves/wine racks, there are a lot of possibilities that won't break the bank. Make sure that the racks will fit your space though, and that your cabinet or closet door will close properly. There are options at Ikea, ranging from Hutten 9-bottle $9.99 wood racks, to Omar, self-assemble metal racks that hold 24 bottles at $34.99. Or you can take a look at Crate & Barrel for something a bit more exotic.