By Marc Supsic, Certified Wine Professional and Sommelier
When my wife and I first started collecting wine, we kept the bottles in boxes on the floor of our basement. As a newlywed couple on a limited budget, it was an austere beginning to what would become a lifelong passion for wine.
25 years later, I’m now a certified wine professional and sommelier. Over the past decade, I’ve educated, served, and worked with thousands of wine lovers and experts around the world.
While my taste in wine has improved — and so has my collection — I have a confession to make: I still don’t have a professional-grade storage space that is commensurate with the amount of time and passion I’ve put into my career over the years.
You see, I’ve been thinking about upgrading for a long time, but honestly I’ve been hard-pressed to find something that fits my lifestyle and philosophy when it comes to wine. I love to collect it, but don’t have a large collection, mostly because I also love to drink it!
I think, however, that I’ve finally found the perfect in-between solution that works for a “casual collector” like me: a Luxury Wine Cabinet from Wine Guardian. Read on to learn what these wine cabinets are all about, and which one I ultimately chose for my home.
Wine Guardian offers a variety of preconfigured layouts, based on familiar wine collecting profiles:
- The Aficionado – Ideal for those looking for a blend of storage and display space and perfect for showcasing key bottles in a collection. Contains 1 display shelf, 6 premium shelves, 1 small drawer, 1 large drawer, and 1 storage box.
- The Connoisseur – For those who want bulk storage but also like to show off their collection “label forward.” Contains 9 label-forward shelves, 1 small drawer, 1 large drawer, and 1 storage box.
- The Enoteca – Tailored for those who wish to proudly display their wine collection. The cabinet contains 13 label-forward storage shelves and 1 storage box, giving you your very own “wine library”.
- The Ultimate Storage – Created for those who want a cabinet purely to optimize storage capacity. Contains 13 premium shelves and 1 storage box.
The layouts listed above are for multi-zone cabinets; they are also available in single-zone configurations. For more info, photos, and pricing of available configurations, visit Wine Guardian.
Which wine cabinet is best for a Sommelier?
In my travels, I meet a lot of serious collectors. And over the years I’ve seen many collections up for auction or at yard sales; the familiar story of buyers who were so obsessed with the thrill of acquiring bottles that, sadly, they missed the point of actually enjoying them.
So, I have a simple philosophy when it comes to wine: Buy the best, put some aside for the future, but enjoy most of it while you can. Life is too short! I love to entertain friends and family and open those bottles often. That means my collection rotates regularly.
For that reason, I chose the Enoteca configuration. Why? It provides a beautiful LED-lit display for my revolving collection of bottles, with consideration for the small (1500 sf) floor plan of my living space. I chose a multi-zone model, setting it to serving temperatures so I can pull out whites and reds and pour them immediately. This also allows me to keep everyday wines in my basement and use the cabinet upstairs as a showcase for my best stuff.
As a wine-savvy small-business owner working with a modest budget, my priority is enjoying my collection in the short term, so this is the perfect solution for me.
Want it your way? Customize your own Wine Cabinet!
Being a sommelier is a lot of work, so I’m happy to let others take the wheel when I’m off the job. But if you prefer to do things on your own, there’s always the opportunity to configure your own cabinet. Here are just a few options and features to play with:
- Six different shelving options, two bottle sizes spacing (Burgundy and Magnum) = thousands of possibilities
- Choose from Single- or Multi-Zone cooling
- Adjustable temperatures for long-term storage or serving (great for hospitality businesses)
In addition, all Wine Guardian cabinets come standard with the following:
- Humidity management (55-65% RH)
- All-mahogany, European-crafted shelving
- Whisper-quiet operation (36dB)
- UV-protected glass door
- Easy access shelf sliders
- Charcoal air filtration
- LED lighting
- Insulated and vibration-free
- Door lock
The (Wine) Cabinetmaker’s Cabinets
There’s an adage about a cabinetmaker whose apprentice sees him finishing the interior of his own cabinets and asks, “Why bother making the inside nice, when nobody sees it?” The cabinetmaker replies, “Because I see it.” When it comes to wine storage, the inside of the cabinet is every bit as important (maybe more so) as the exterior.
I’ve spent a long time building a career and collection around my love for wine. My investment will be in good hands with Wine Guardian, which has been passionate about building better wine cellar cooling systems for nearly three decades.
I can’t wait to personalize my unit! How about you? Get started with the Cabinet Customizer Tool or shop some of Wine Guardian’s preconfigured options.
