With more Americans enjoying the fruits of the vine, elegant
storage options are unfolding for every budget.

While Starbucks is closing stores and people are cutting back on luxuries, wine sales are staying strong. The United States is the biggest wine market in the world; we spend about $30 billion on the fruits of the vine.
So it’s only natural that homeowners are becoming savvier about storing the stuff properly. Having an in-home wine chiller or cellar gives people a place to keep the wines they love at the correct temperatures so they can enjoy them now, at dinner parties and with friends, or later, after the bottles have aged.
It doesn’t make sense to buy wines only to keep them on the countertop or in a garage where the heat and dry climate will do them no good.
“The whole idea here is that we keep the wine at 55 degrees,” says Karl Von Senden, owner of Castle Mark Cellars in Phoenix.
It’s a misconception, even at many restaurants, that red wines should be “room temperature” and whites should be “chilled.” Too often, that means people serve reds at Arizona room temperature, which can be up to 80 degrees, and whites right out of the refrigerator.
In fact, reds served too warm will taste overly alcoholic, and whites served too cold will lose flavor nuances.
Instead, think of “room temperature” as what a chilly stone house or cellar in Europe would feel like. That’s what wine lovers want to replicate when they put bottles aside.
But storage options, like the wines themselves, run the gamut on price and quality.