The storage temperature for each wine, what relative humidity actually is, why a glass wine room condenses, and what separates a monobloc from a split system. 40 terms, each answered in the first sentence.
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Wine and storage
White wine storage temperature
What temperature should white wine be stored at?
White wine is stored between 10 and 12 °C, with a maximum swing of ±0.5 °C. Storage is not the same as serving: a young white is served at 8-10 °C and a barrel-fermented or aged white at 11-13 °C, but long-term storage always sits in the 10-12 °C band.
A mixed collection does not need a zone per colour: a constant 12 °C stores whites, reds and sparkling wines well, and the bottle is brought to serving temperature beforehand.
Also: white wine fridge temperature · how cold to keep white wine
Red wine is stored between 12 and 14 °C. Serving is a separate question: 13-15 °C for a light young red, 15-16 °C for a fuller young red and 16-18 °C for aged and reserve wines. Above 19 °C the alcohol dominates and the wine loses freshness.
Stability matters more than the exact figure: a wine held at a constant 14 °C ages better than one swinging between 12 and 18 °C every summer.
What is the difference between serving and storage temperature?
Serving temperature is the temperature at which wine is drunk; storage temperature is the one it lives at for years. The first ranges from 6 °C (sparkling) to 18 °C (a mature reserve); the second always stays between 10 and 14 °C. Confusing the two is the most common mistake at home.
A bottle at 12 °C takes 45 to 90 minutes to reach 16-17 °C in a room at 20 °C.
Also: tasting temperature
Spoiled (vinegary) wine
What is a vinegary wine?
A vinegary wine is one in which acetic bacteria have turned its alcohol into acetic acid and ethyl acetate. It shows as a sharp vinegar or nail-polish smell, a sour taste and, in reds, a dull brick colour. There is no fix, and it is not the same as cork taint (TCA), which smells of wet cardboard.
TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) is the compound behind cork taint. It brings a smell of wet cardboard, damp basement or old cloth, and mutes the fruit of the wine. It is a fault of the closure, not of storage: it affects individual bottles within the same case.
Also: corked wine · cork taint
Age-worthy wine
What is an age-worthy wine?
An age-worthy wine is one whose structure (acidity, tannin, concentration and sometimes sugar) lets it improve in bottle over years or decades rather than decline. It is the kind of wine that justifies a climate-controlled cellar: its evolution depends directly on the thermal stability it is kept in.
Also: cellaring wine · collectible wine
Oxidation
What is wine oxidation?
Oxidation is the reaction of wine with the oxygen that passes through the closure. In tiny, slow doses it is what rounds out a great wine; in excess it kills it: whites turn deep gold and taste of bruised apple, reds lose fruit and go brown. Heat and temperature swings both accelerate it.
Also: oxidised wine
Thermal acceleration of ageing
How much does heat speed up wine ageing?
As a rule of thumb drawn from chemical kinetics, every extra 5 to 10 °C roughly doubles the rate of the reactions that make a wine evolve. A red stored at 22 °C ages some two to three times faster than at 13 °C, and at 26 °C it can lose its freshness in a single season.
Also: heat ruins wine faster · Van't Hoff rule
Horizontal storage
Why is wine stored lying down?
Laying the bottle down keeps the wine in contact with the cork, so the cork keeps its moisture and its seal. A dry cork shrinks, lets oxygen in and the wine oxidises. It only applies to natural cork: with a screw cap or glass closure position is irrelevant, although horizontal storage is still the most space-efficient.
Also: store wine upright or on its side
Climate control and equipment
Relative humidity (RH)
What is relative humidity and why does it matter in a wine cellar?
Relative humidity is the percentage of water vapour the air holds compared with the maximum it could hold at that temperature. In a wine cellar the correct band is 60-75 % RH: below 50 % the cork dries out and oxygen gets in; above 80 % mould appears and labels peel off.
It is relative because it depends on temperature: the same air, cooled, raises its RH without gaining a single drop of water. Humidity control and temperature control therefore cannot be separated.
Also: what is humidity · RH · ideal wine cellar humidity
Why does condensation form in a climate-controlled cellar?
The dew point is the temperature at which air becomes saturated and water vapour turns into liquid water. If the glass, a wall or a duct in the cellar sits below that point, it condenses. This is why a poorly insulated glass wine room drips in summer.
It is solved in design, not with a dehumidifier: low-emissivity double glazing, thermal break framing and a continuous vapour barrier on the warm side.
Yes. Continuous vibration keeps sediment in suspension and, according to the available studies, accelerates reactions that strip aromatic complexity from long-ageing wines. The usual source at home is the cooling unit's own compressor or a domestic fridge, which is why a professional wine cabinet mounts its compressor on silent blocks.
Also: wine vibration · wine fridge vibration
Light and UV radiation
Why does light damage wine?
Ultraviolet radiation degrades wine compounds and produces what is known as lightstrike, with notes of cooked cabbage or cardboard, above all in sparkling wines and whites. That is why a cellar is lit with UV-free LEDs at a warm colour temperature (2,700 K), and why the glazing of a glass wine room filters UV.
Also: lightstrike · wine cellar lighting
Climate-controlled cellar
What is a climate-controlled wine cellar?
A climate-controlled cellar is an insulated, sealed room with equipment that holds temperature and humidity constant to store wine. It reproduces the climate of an underground cellar (around 12 °C and 70 % RH) on any floor of a home or commercial space, with no excavation.
A wine cabinet is a refrigerated cabinet designed specifically to store wine: cooling without drying, controlled humidity, low vibration, UV protection and shelving that holds the bottle on its side. It differs from a domestic fridge in working temperature (10-14 °C versus 2-5 °C) and humidity (60-70 % versus 35-40 %).
Also: wine fridge · wine cooler
Dual-zone wine cabinet
What is a dual-temperature wine cabinet for?
A dual-zone cabinet holds two compartments at different temperatures: typically 14 °C below for age-worthy reds and 10-12 °C above for whites and sparkling wines ready to serve. It is the practical answer up to 150-300 bottles; beyond that a single 12 °C zone plus a small serving rack works better.
Also: two zone wine fridge · multi-temperature wine cabinet
Monobloc unit
What is a monobloc cellar cooling unit?
A monobloc is a cellar cooling unit that houses evaporator, compressor and condenser in a single body, passing through the wall between the cellar and an adjacent ventilated room. It is the simplest option for small cellars, but it leaves the compressor's noise and heat right against the room.
Also: through-wall cellar cooling unit
Split unit
What is a split cellar cooling system?
A split separates the indoor unit (evaporator, inside the cellar) from the outdoor one (compressor and condenser, in a plant room, courtyard or on the roof), joined by a refrigerant line. It leaves the cellar silent and vibration-free, handles larger volumes and is the norm in bespoke projects.
The ducted variant hides the indoor unit completely and can condition two rooms from a single machine.
Also: ducted cellar cooling · remote condensing unit
Cellar equipment holds 60-75 % RH by combining a large-surface evaporator that cools without drying and, where the local climate demands it, a humidifier or dehumidifier driven by a humidistat. Damp basements usually have humidity to spare; heated apartments usually lack it.
The setpoint is the target value programmed into the unit, 12 °C for instance. Around it sits a differential: the margin the controller allows before starting or stopping. Domestic equipment works with differentials of ±2 °C; bespoke cellar equipment with ±0.5 °C.
Also: temperature differential · hysteresis
Cellars and construction
Thermal inertia
What is the thermal inertia of a cellar?
Thermal inertia is the ability of the building mass (ground, stone walls, concrete) to absorb heat and release it slowly, damping outside swings. It is what keeps an underground cellar at roughly 13-15 °C all year with no help, and why its equipment barely has to run.
Also: ground thermal mass cellar
Vapour barrier and airtightness
What is the vapour barrier of a wine cellar?
The vapour barrier is the continuous membrane that stops water vapour migrating through the envelope and condensing inside the insulation. It always goes on the warm side of the wall. Without it, a climate-controlled cellar ends up with wet insulation, mould and runaway energy use.
It comes with airtightness: a perimeter-sealed door, sealed service penetrations and a continuous floor.
Also: wine cellar insulation
Thermal bridge
What is a thermal bridge in a wine cellar?
A thermal bridge is a point in the envelope where insulation is interrupted (a metal frame, a column, a badly resolved junction) and heat enters or leaves in a concentrated way. In a cellar it shows up as localised condensation and as an area that never reaches setpoint.
Also: thermal break
Underground cellar
What is an underground wine cellar?
An underground cellar is a cellar excavated beneath the house, usually cylindrical and reached by a spiral stair or hatch, which uses the thermal inertia of the ground to stay cool and humid with almost no energy use. It requires civil works and a structural study, and is decided at design or major-renovation stage.
A glass wine room is a climate-controlled enclosure with one or more glazed walls that make it a feature of the living or dining room. It calls for low-emissivity double glazing with a UV filter, thermal-break framing and careful dew point calculation so that it never condenses.
A built-in cabinet is one installed within the joinery (under counter, in a tall unit or in an island), flush with the fronts and either with its own door or panel-ready. Its critical condition is ventilation: it needs a grille and the manufacturer's clearance, and must sit away from oven, hob and dishwasher.
Also: under counter wine cooler · tall unit wine cabinet
Real capacity is what is left after allowing for display formats and non-standard bottles. A catalogue counts perfectly stacked 750 ml Bordeaux bottles; a real collection mixes Burgundy bottles, magnums and champagne, all of which take more room. Budget 20-30 % below the nominal figure.
Also: how many bottles wine cabinet
Turnkey project
What does a turnkey project include?
Turnkey means a single point of contact takes on the whole project: survey, design, thermal calculation, fabrication, insulation, refrigeration and electrical installation, assembly, commissioning and final adjustment. The client receives a working cellar with verified parameters, without coordinating trades.
Also: full service cellar project
Humidors and cigars
Humidor
What is a humidor?
A humidor is an enclosure (box, cabinet, display case or walk-in room) lined with cedar that keeps cigars at stable temperature and humidity, with 18 °C and 70 % relative humidity as the reference. Without that control a cigar dries out and crumbles, or takes on too much moisture and stops drawing.
Also: cigar box · cigar cabinet
The 70/70 rule
What temperature and humidity should cigars be kept at?
The classic rule says 70 °F and 70 % RH, that is 21 °C and 70 % humidity. Professional practice runs slightly cooler, around 18 °C ±1 °C and 70 % RH ±3 %: the same degree of humidification with less risk of tobacco beetle hatching, which starts above 22-24 °C.
Also: 70/70 cigars · ideal humidor humidity
Walk-in humidor
What is a walk-in humidor?
A walk-in humidor is a humidor room you can step into, about the size of a small office, with insulated walls, a sealed glazed door and active climate control. It is the format used by premium tobacconists, cigar clubs and hotels, with capacities from several thousand up to 20,000 cigars.
Lasioderma serricorne is the insect whose eggs travel dormant in the leaf and hatch when the humidor rises above 22-24 °C, boring holes of less than a millimetre through the cigars. It is the technical reason for keeping a humidor at 18 °C and inspecting the collection regularly.
Also: cigar beetle · holes in cigars
Seasoning a humidor
What does seasoning a new humidor mean?
Seasoning a humidor means bringing its cedar lining up to equilibrium moisture before any cigars go in, over one or two weeks. Skip the step and the dry wood pulls moisture out of the cigars, drying them from the inside even while the hygrometer reads a seemingly correct 70 %.
Also: prepare new humidor · humidor break-in
Hygrometer
What is a hygrometer and which one is worth having?
A hygrometer measures the relative humidity of the air. Analogue dial units drift easily and tolerate errors of 5-10 points; a good digital one is salt-calibrated and runs at around ±1-2 %. In a humidor or a cellar, the hygrometer is the only way to know whether the equipment is doing what it claims.
Also: humidity meter · calibrate hygrometer
Materials and design
Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata)
Why are humidors made of cedar?
Cedrela odorata, known as Spanish cedar despite being American, regulates humidity passively by absorbing and releasing water, repels pests through its natural oils, adds an aroma compatible with tobacco and barely deforms through humidity cycles. No other timber combines all four properties.
Also: humidor wood · cedar cigars
Bottle racking
What types of wine racking are there?
Racking is the structure that holds the bottles. The usual formats are the individual niche (one bottle per opening, maximum protection), the storage shelf (bottles stacked, maximum density), the angled display shelf (label on show) and the pull-out shelf for quick access.
The mix of formats defines real capacity: the same linear metre can hold anywhere from 8 to 24 bottles depending on how much is put on display.
Also: wine rack · wine cabinet shelving
Low-emissivity glass
What glazing does a glass wine room need?
Low-emissivity glass carries a microscopic metallic coating that reflects infrared radiation and cuts heat transfer. In a cellar it is used as double glazing with a cavity and a UV filter, on thermal-break framing, to prevent condensation and protect the wine from light.
Also: wine cellar glass · double glazed wine room
2,700 K UV-free LED
What lighting is used in a wine cellar?
The correct lighting is LED at a warm colour temperature (2,700-3,000 K), with no ultraviolet emission and low heat dissipation, switched on only when needed or by presence detection. It brings out the colour of the timber and the labels without adding heat to the room or degrading the wine.
Also: wine cellar light · wine cabinet lighting
Silent block
What is a silent block in a wine cabinet?
A silent block is an elastic mount, usually EPDM rubber, placed between the compressor and the structure so that vibration is not transmitted to the bottles or to the building. It is one of the details that separate genuine cellar equipment from a rebadged domestic fridge.
Also: anti-vibration mount compressor
Bespoke versus off-the-shelf
What is the difference between an off-the-shelf and a bespoke wine cabinet?
An off-the-shelf cabinet is picked from fixed sizes and finishes, and the opening is adapted to the machine. A bespoke one starts from the opening, the collection and the use: free dimensions, racking matched to the collection's real bottle formats, chosen timbers and finishes, and professional-grade refrigeration components.
Last reviewed: 29/08/2026. The ranges given here are the ones we apply in design and commissioning. See our editorial policy.
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