Service wine cellar or ageing wine cellar, which one to choose?

Tell us what wine lover you are, we will tell you which cellar is right for you! If you are the type to keep great wines for a long time, in order to age your bottles in the best conditions to taste them at the most opportune time, then the ageing wine cellar is made for you. This type of wine cellar is also known as an ageing wine cellar, which is even more evocative. These models have the distinction of offering only one temperature, generally between 10 ° C and 14 ° C, which corresponds to the same conditions as a natural cellar.

If you tend to drink quickly the wine you buy, or if your bottles are not intended to be kept very long, then the service cellar is more suited to you, like the Thomson Millésime 28.

It allows you to keep the wine at an ideal tasting temperature, whether for red, white, rosé or champagne. The service wine cellars, unlike the ageing wine cellars, allow two different temperatures. Some models are multi-temperature: the highest temperature is at the top and it drops to the bottom of the device.

There is a third type of wine cellar, which is a mixture of the first two. We then speak of a multi-zone or multi-temperature model, with two or three temperatures available, which allows to devote part of the cellar to ageing, and part to service.

The capacity and the storage flexibility?

Capacity will undoubtedly be the first criterion of choice, especially since it goes hand in hand with the compactness. It is generally expressed in the number of bottles that the cellar can accommodate. Our advice is simple, opt for the largest capacity possible depending on the space you have. Because in the end, there is never enough space in the cellar ...

If in an ageing cellar, separation between the bottles is not really necessary, it is quite different in a service cellar. Having adjustable shelves allows you to better manage the distribution according to the temperature zones according to the wine. When in the debate whether it is better to opt for wooden or metal shelves, this does not matter much for ageing. On the other hand, wood absorbs shocks, makes less noise on contact and will therefore be more pleasant when storing the bottles. Some wine cellars, such as the Thomson Millésime, also offer a so-called presentation shelf, which certainly takes a little additional space, but allows you to display your vintage wines when the door is made of glass.

Which temperature, for which wine?

This is an essential question to properly store or serve wine! First, as mentioned above, to keep a wine over time, you need a temperature almost constant all the time, between 10 ° C and 14 ° C. A dark place is also suitable, so if your wine cellar is to be installed in a place exposed to strong light, choose a model with a full door instead, even if that takes away the pleasure of seeing its precious bottles. It is however often possible to find a small place in the shade ...

When it comes to tasting, it really depends on the type of wine. A simple white wine or sparkling wine is ideally served at around 10 ° C, while a high-end white wine or champagne will deliver all its flavors at around 12 ° C. Finally, for red wines, it mainly depends on the tannin. A slightly tannic Beaujolais or Bourgogne are generally served at 15 ° C or 16 ° C, while a Bordeaux or Côte du Rhône can go up to 18 ° C or 19 ° C. To make sure you serve your wine at the right temperature, you can therefore keep it at a slightly lower temperature in your service cellar, and take it out a few dozen minutes before a meal. Be aware that there are wine thermometers, which attach to the bottle and offer great accuracy.

How to choose the wines to store for ageing?

This question will arise, if you want to go for an ageing cellar, but this also applies to a service cellar which will be used for this purpose by necessity. And answering it is not necessarily easy! There are many wines to keep, especially in the Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhône regions, to name a few. You will not have the place to put more than a few dozen bottles in your wine cellar, when there are hundreds of possibilities available to you: the choice is therefore important.

There is an important principle to keep in mind: just because a wine is a grand cru does not mean that it is intended to be kept for decades before drinking. Likewise, the vintage of a specific wine may be conducive to long storage and ageing, while the wine of the following year will not be. Wine is a living drink and its taste varies depending on the grape used, the weather and many other parameters that are not the same from year to year.

The ideal is to turn directly to the vineyard that sells its wine. When it is a Grand Cru, it displays in the vast majority of cases an estimate of its "peak", that is to say the period when the wine reaches its fullness and when it is recommended to taste it. This can represent a period of less than 10 or 15 years, not necessarily more. It’s an effective way to know if a wine is suitable for long storage and ageing. For the rest, it's up to you and your wine cellar!

What about the energy consumption of the wine cellar?

The principle of the wine cellar is to keep your bottles for a longer or shorter period, several years when it is a model for wine ageing. It is therefore necessary that the device is plugged in and running continuously, and in this context, a model that consumes less, this is an asset certainly but in absolute terms a wine cellar is energy efficient. In practice, most cellars display an energy class between A and D with a majority of models which are in B. If obviously this influences the electricity bill, you should still know that a wine cellar that contains 48 bottles in class B will cost less than 30 euros per year which remains very reasonable. For comparison, a medium-sized class A + fridge / freezer combination will have an annual energy cost of around 300 euros, or ten times more!

Also, don't neglect the climate class of the model you're interested in. Class SN allows the device to operate at a temperature between 10 ° C and 32 ° C, while class T is between 16 ° C and 43 ° C. The difference is important and it all depends on where you plan to install your wine cellar in the end. If you install a model that is not designed for high temperatures in a room or place exposed to hot weather, it may harm your wine and increase the power consumption of the device. In short, before buying the wine cellar of your dreams, it is imperative to ask yourself about your real needs and its future location.

After that, you will be ready to start conservation, long or short, of this fabulous drink ... but to be tasted of course with moderation!