Wine Rack sizes

Anything to do with Port.
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Re: Wine Rack sizes

Post by uncle tom »

As an aside to this thread, when did 'traditional' wood and steel racks first appear?

My parents and grandparents generation never used them, my father always kept wine in the cases it arrived in, and as far as I can make out, the previous generation had bottles delivered as required by a local wine merchant.

At auction, the only wine racks that look ancient are the wrought iron types, many of which include decorative flourishes that look French in style. The earliest I've spotted a wood and steel one on film dates from 1972 (opening episode of the BBC Colditz series).

The dimensions of these racks, though quoted in mm, almost always translate back to inches however. The aperture normally varies between 3 3/4" and 3 7/8" for standard bottles (3 13/16" being most common), and the staves have a finished size of 1" x 1".

The stave size is actually a significant design fail, although I assume it is cost driven. Most bottles in racks jam on the edge of the staves instead of sliding on their quarter points along the faces of them (imagine a square inside the circle). If the staves were 1 1/2" square, the bottles would slide more smoothly, and half bottles would sit comfortably inside a full bottle aperture, instead of threatening to fall through to the bottle below.
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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JacobH
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Re: Wine Rack sizes

Post by JacobH »

I had assumed that that the wood-and-steel racks were invented for commercial rather than domestic use? It’s presumably only a very recent phenomenon that people would be buying large quantities of wine but not storing them in the cases.

The two types of wine racks that I particularly remember were the wood-and-wood version of the wood-and-steel, like this:

https://www.jkadams.com/product/ash-mod ... en-storage

and also the fold-able version:

https://www.amazon.com/Foldable-Wooden- ... 365&sr=8-3

I presume most of those seem to be replaced these days by a built-in-rack in a kitchen holding a dozen bottles or so, occasionally complemented by a glass-fronted wine fridge for those with a bit more money.
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uncle tom
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Re: Wine Rack sizes

Post by uncle tom »

by a built-in-rack in a kitchen holding a dozen bottles or so
The dimensions of standard kitchen carcassing is really awkward and inefficient when it comes to incorporating wine racking. Unless you indulge extra deep worktops and knock the back board out of the unit, it isn't quite deep enough for double depth bottle storage without the necks sticking out.

Height-wise the standard internal space is 720mm - just enough for seven bottles, but an awkward number, so they are usually six high with space wasted. Width-wise, you have wasted space whichever size of unit you use. Even if you did tailor a rack to fit efficiently, there's a real risk that the base board of the carcass wouldn't take the load without reinforcement..
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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JacobH
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Re: Wine Rack sizes

Post by JacobH »

I’ve certainly noticed that inefficiency but it is striking how often you see them in people’s homes: enough to make me think they are really all that most people need these days. I suppose they are quite useful in that there aren’t many other off-the-shelf cabinets that have a narrow width so if you are padding out a fitted kitchen to fit a wall, you can use one rather than just a blank space. That said, the kitchen we inherited from the previous owners of this house has a very narrow sliding unit which is much more useful (we keep bottles of oil in it next to the stove).
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