Best way to store wine on a budget?

[Thraz]

For what it's worth... I know people who own a few bottles (up to 10), and people who own 50+ bottles. Rarely in-between. So if you buy a fridge for 17 bottles, I would think it likely that you will soon find out it is really, really not enough as you build up your "cellar" (quotation marks not for the quality of what's in it - only because of the apartment environment!). So, my two cents: if you plan to drink most of your wine within a few months, 75 degrees is probably not that bad, especially if it's constant. I know many are unhappy if the temperature goes above 60, but I think wine can take it for periods that are relatively short (and many stores put the wine we try to take good care of through much worse conditions - so if you buy from a good, temperature controlled source, your odds at 75 for a few months are actually as good as anybody else's with a good cellar but who buys from sources that are not always temperature-controlled). But now that you can buy your own wine, you will probably want to diversify your cellar and include some bottles you will want to age. In that case, you could look into self-storage facilities. Some are air-conditioned, you could enquire whether you can set the temperature for your own unit. You should be able to get by with the smallest, cheapest units.

[This message has been edited by Thraz (edited 05-04-2005).]