Bottle position

[hotwine]

Here's a question for those of you who keep more than a case or two on hand: how do you store your bottles, "capsules-out" in the racks so you can watch for leakage, or "bottoms-out" so you can easily read the labels? For years, I've been storing them capsules-out, but finally got frustrated enough with trying to read upside-down labels that I've begun storing the bottles bottoms-out. Seems wierd. And now I can't easily check capsule condition. So which do you prefer?

[Innkeeper]

Capsule out.

[Thomas]

Capsule out. <P>You could consider perhaps keeping a list that is tied to a number, the way restaurants do it. You assign the number to the bottle, hang it on the neck, and then keep a paper copy of what's in the cellar, by the numbers. That way, you see the capsule and you need not have to read the label when selecting a wine--just bring the list with you.<P>

[winoweenie]

Definately capsule out. Not sure about your storage but I list the location of my wine by bin number(I have diamond storage with each diamond storing 18 bottles) If a wine is in diamond 327, I go to that space, locate the bottle and remove the sucker. It's far more important IMHO to see if there's leakage than locating bottles. WW

[hotwine]

So the consensus is capsule-out. As stated, that's the way I've handled 'em for years. It's only since I replaced the homemade diamond bins with store-bought wire racks last year that the capsule-out configuration has become a problem. Maybe WW has hit on it: with diamonds, I had a numbered paper tag hanging over each bin and knew at a glance what was there; but now, I have no numbering system on the racks at all, and rely on sight (and fading memory) to tell me the location of each label. In the database, wines are entered by rack # and shelf #, and that's easy enough to see at a glance. But I might have six different wines on one shelf, if they've been purchased in two-sies or so. Hmmm. Lesson learned: buy only by the case, since each shelf holds two cases, with seven shelves per rack. Thanks.

[MoreWines]

Capsules out.

[hotwine]

After trying the arrangement both ways, with some wines capsules-out and some capsules-in, I've decided I like the capsules-in configuration for the cellar. The lighting is above/behind the racks, and since I can't stand fully upright in there, the labels are much more easily read when the bottles are capsules-in. So, I've switched 'em all. Only about 400 or so, or about 1/3 capacity. (With the onset of cooler weather to safeguard wines in merchants' transport and storage, it's a good time to resume adding to inventory.)

[winoweenie]

I love it when one of my kids ask for advice and after you carefully answer the question they do just the opposite. When I question them they say " I just thot I'd see if you agreed with me ". Sheesh!!!WW

[dananne]

I'm assuming this will be read IN CONTEXT, so here goes . . .<P>I go both ways <IMG SRC="http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif"><P>In my ramshackle cellar (see recent thread), some of my bottles (esp. in the Burgundy section) are too fat to sit side by side in the racking system, but will fit if I put one capsule out and the one beside it bottom out.

[hotwine]

Yeah, I do that too, Dan, esp. St Chinian... confounded bottles are fat & squatty and don't like to get cozy with each other.<P>WW, I wasn't looking to take a contrarian position, just interested in different viewpoints & rationales. The only commercial outfits I've seen even depicting a capsule-in orientation is EuroCave in their print ads. Interesting.<P>I'll try it this way for a while to see how it works. Can always spend a hot afternoon in the coolness of the cellar flippin' 'em all back to capsule-out.