Setting up wine cellar racks

A suggestion for those people who might be considering constructing simple wine cellar racks and using Uncorked as the management system.
By Ross Broadfoot

Materials: I use sheets of Galvanised Rio Mesh with squares of 100mm X 100mm cut to widths of 12 squares and Height to suit available space. The sheets are cut so that there are stubbs of mesh about 15mm proud of the main sheet. The aim is to set up one sheet in front of the rear sheet by 180 mm,with the front being 10mm lower than the rear. (this lets the bottles lie slightly downward toward the front.)

• I used MDF fibre board in preference to particle board on the top:bottom and both sides.
• Tops and sides are cut to a width of 350mm (forming the sides of the box)
• The length of the sheets is the height of the opening available.
• I used a template with 100mm Centres to drill the holes into the sides, top and bottom sections. (I was lucky to have some old "BrownBuilt" shelving that has 100mm holes drilled in the shelves that I used as my template)
• Every 100mm the mesh stubbs are lodged into the matching holes on the sides and top to support the weight.
• Make the 12 bay sections up as modules. This allows for the obvious dozen bottles on each shelf.

After installing the completed modules against a wall, I strongly suggest using some wall brackets be mounted on the rear walls every 600mm that protrude through the mesh and wired to both front and back sheets of mesh. Where 2 modules are side by side, I have mounted rough sawn hardwood as the facing pieces. This could be stained pine.

The numbering scheme I use is the same as an EXCEL spreadsheet.
Starting at the top LHS as A01. I stencil across the top A:B:C:D and Vertical 1;2;3;4;5 as to the opening height. I have 22 rows floor to ceiling in a room with a 2.4m ceiling. I set a user defined field as "Location" in Uncorked Cellar and the first bottle of each type logged at say AB 17 with the like type of bottles spreading to the right and the quantity mentioned in Uncorked.

My wife and I built these with limited power tools and is certainly cheaper (and lighter) than the timber X section units I built in our previous house.

Ross Broadfoot