A no-frills basic wine storage unit. Since it hides under a basement
stairwell, I was not particularly concerned with cosmetics but size
and storage efficiency. Built out of pine and secured to the
wall studs with wooden cleats. Overall dimensions are about
61"h x 43"w x 12"d.
Because I was trying to maximize storage in a very limited space -
this unit will hold 150 bottles - I built it for the most common
(and smaller) sized 750ml bottle. Each "cubbyhole" is built on
a 4" center-to-center square geometry, thereby leaving about 3 1/4"
of actual storage space.
This is fine for Cabarenet, Merlot, Meritage, and so forth. However,
many Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs will not fit in this small an
opening, and neither will any full-sized bottle of Champagne. Since I
don't tend to have a lot of these, rather than lose storage to
accommodate them, I will build another, smaller, storage unit that can
handle the larger diameter bottles as a separate piece.
Total time to build was about 12 hours non-stop, once I had
the wood in the shop. Total cost was under $45 US. Not bad,
considering the comparable commercial units are about $700 -
though they do look nicer;)
