We all want the best when it comes to storing wine, but sometimes there are gonna be trade-offs. Being systematic as you shop for a wine cellar ensures that you end up with something that meets both your needs and your budget.

1) How many bottles do you want to store?

This is the easiest question to ask, and the one people most frequently answer incorrectly. You’re buying a wine fridge to store your wine over time, and your rate of consumption will tend to rise over that time, so be prepared for your future buying habits. If you think you need a fridge that holds fifty wine bottles, you’d better buy one that holds 150.

2) What conditions should you keep your wine fridge?

Most stand-alone wine fridges are designed to be used inside your home. Ideally you should keep the temperature between 12 to 15 degrees, as long as it’s kept in a moderate area. If it’s located in non air conditioned room at 32 degrees or you’re got it directly in sunlight, the fridge will probably break down and you can end up overheating your wine.

3) How heavy is the fridge and will the floor hold it up?

A full wine fridge can weight close to a ton. While most modern homes will have no issue with the weight, you should double check before making your purchase.

4) Is it attractive?

Will you be hiding this thing away in a closet or guest room, or will this be the centerpiece of your kitchen or dining room? The finishes of many stand alone wine fridges are serviceable if not terribly attractive, but some are down right elegant.

5) What’s your budget?

Ok, so now you’ve narrowed to your choices to what you want, but it’s time to consider what you can afford. You may have to forgo the glass door or pull out shelves to be able to swing the bigger unit that I’m telling you you’re gonna need. Remember this rule, it’s an tool firstly, then a massive big piece of furniture secondly!

If you like wine and you adore to go, then you must consider heading to France to attend some of the Earth’s most celebrated wine tasting events. This is as Paris is respected for a load more than its monuments and museums. Paris is also famous for manufacturing some of the best wines in the world a secret that came out in 1976.

In 1976 a wine tasting event occurred with 9 tasters, 8 of whom were judged to be the top wine tasters in France. The event was a blind tasting, suggesting that the judges didn’t know the identity of the wines that were being tasted at the wine bars. After this event, the admiration for wine tasting in Paris grew to what everyone knows it as today.

You can now find events at wine bars included in nearly each wine tour of Paris. This is perhaps because there are plenty of wine bars in this area that have regularly prepared events. Just make sure you go prepared to do lots of spitting as you taste these countless wines as you’ll likely find one or 2 that you detest. If you do decide to go to Paris to taste the many tasty French wines at the city’s wine bars, then you should be prepared to sample masses of great quality wines.

One of these wine bars is Castle , which offers cheap wines. There’s also Willi’s which offers you more than two hundred and fifty differing types of wine to make a choice between. Naturally, there are plenty of other wine bars also available so you will have no problem finding one that will suit you wants. Lots of these multinationals open early and stay open for the majority of the day and late into the night. They not only offer you fine wines, but they also offer you glorious food to make a choice from also. You don’t wish to miss visiting Paris’ many fine wine bars.

If you’ve a chance to do that, then ensure you plan to spend at least a couple of days enjoying yourself in this stunning town. While there, you should also visit some of the wine shops so you can bring back home some great selections that can’t be found some place else.

The design of bottle caps and wine bottle corks have changed very little over the last 50 years and they have done their job very well indeed. Indeed they are an iconic image to the seasoned drinker, scattered about the floor and table after a heavy night on the liquor. Although they have served us well over the years, it now seems that their numbers are up, as more efficient and effective bottle tops like the screw top are taking over. (more…)