WINE: Keeping Your Wine Happy In an Apartment

Guys, I know I have not been posting to this blog much recently. At the moment I am not only doing work that involves writing about food and the foodservice industry all day, but I am also taking a food writing class. Between the two of these things, the thought of also writing about food on my blog on a daily basis is just exhausting.

I still plan to keep it up however, as I've been gathering up posts. It just won't be as frequent. The best way to be updated when I write something is join my RSS feed on the side there. Then you can just check for updates there and not have to keep looking here disappointedly as I know y'all are doing. (Refresh! Refresh! ... damn, still no new post!)

But an exciting thing that's happening is that I'm getting very close to the end of my wine book. I am in the final section now. How exciting! Now we are learning about how to collect and keep wines. If you decide you want to become a collector, then you will probably be keeping your wines for a while. They never last long in our house, but I am generous, so I'll still tell you to store them for maximum enjoyment if you live in a small apartment.

If you do not have a place that naturally works to store your wine, nor can afford to pay to store your wine, and most importantly, would like it easily accessible, consider a wine cave. Wine caves are self-contained, refrigerated units that you plug into an electrical outlet.

There are various designs and surely you can find one to fit in your living space. They come in small sizes, or as large as 2,800 bottles (for those of you in penthouses). They range in price from budget to luxury as well.

Where to find a wine cellar? Consider the following:

Haier: Haier makes perfect wine storage options for apartment dwellers. They have units as small as 8 bottle capacity that can fit on a countertop. They also have larger units going up to 102 bottle capacity. They have some that are ultra-silent and some that have varying degrees of control over temperature. Prices range from $80 - $700.

Vinotemp: Vinotemp has a bunch of options - They have fancy to functional, and designs that can be modern or vintage in style. They also worth a check for any alcohol connoisseur as they have various beverage related gadgets, like beer dispensers and shot chillers.

Cuisinart: If you 've already got a Cuisinart kitchen, why not get your wine cellar to match? Cuisinart has a couple of small countertop wine cellars between $100-$200. These are not for the big collector, but for those who just want to keep a few quality bottles of wine at an optimum temperature, ready for a special occasion.

Kitchenaid: If you have a little more money to spend, how about Kitchenaid? They have a fancy "Architect Series" of handsome undercounter cellars in wood or chrome. They can be freestanding or installed if you're able to alter your kitchen. They cost between $1000-$2000.