Creative Wine Storage Solutions for Small Spaces

New Yorkers love their wine. New Yorkers also have very little space to store their wine. If you’re making your own wine at Brooklyn Winery you may be concerned about where you’re going to put all those bottles in your (likely) small apartment. Or maybe you’d like to start a wine collection but your only obstacle is a lack of space. There’s a great wine storage solutions company called Joseph & Curtis that can help you out. They create custom wine storage racks and cellars designed especially for your space, whether it’s a home or a commercial business. We recently spoke with owner Joseph Klein about his wine storage solutions and how they can create a space for you to store your budding (or existing) wine collection.

There are quite a few companies out there marketing wine storage systems. What has made your approach unique and ultimately beneficial to your clients? The fact we can build to any size or niche New York can throw at us! Our expertise in design and manufacturing allows us the unique opportunity to bring any dream to reality…as we all know, New York space is always limited but our creativity toward wine storage is not!

What is your approach with clients to determine the best design and storage system for their wines? First is figuring out what each client is looking for (design, bottle count, refrigeration, etc.). Is it a simple wine fridge from our wine cooler shop, or a custom wine rack or cellar? Each client is different as well as the space they may have. So our first job is to always listen to our clients’ needs and then make that a reality.  

We noticed your client list includes some well-known restaurants in NY and some high profile individuals. How did you get a guy like Buddy Valastro (AKA “The Cake Boss”) to use your services? Buddy came to us and wanted a “WOW!” wine cellar. Buddy is used to making other peoples’ dreams come to life and we are doing the same for his 1,500 bottle wine cellar. I would like to think it’s our reputation and our attention to detail. You don’t only do large scale storage systems.

Many of our winemaking and wine bar customers have homes in the city that won’t accommodate a large cellar. How do you make the most of small spaces? Be creative. You can’t work in New York if you are not. We will walk through a client’s space several times before deciding on a particular location for the wine storage. We have built them in kitchens, dining areas, replaced bathrooms, basement storage areas, etc.

What was your biggest challenge working with limited residential space in NY? What ultimately was the solution? It was in an old loft area where the second floor was turned into a large one story apartment. We added a door behind the kitchen cabinets and were able to build a 750 bottle wine cellar with cooling!

What are some of the most important things about wine storage that most people aren’t aware of? Do you really need cooling? How fast are you turning over your wines? Could you have a series of wine racks with a built in wine cooler for your longer term wines? Or will you be laying down your wines for years to come and require a perfect climate? How fast will your collection grow, and how will it be organized? When people think of wine storage, they think of a major expense outlay. Are there ways to create wine storage in your home without breaking the bank? Cooling tends to add thousands of dollars to every cellar or storage area. That’s why it’s important to decide if it is really needed.

Feeling the need to create your own wine storage? Contact Joseph & Curtis at wineracks@josephandcurtis.com or 888-681-5888.