Sailboat Wine Storage Ideas

[drpaoletta]

Folks, this may not be the most pressing issue in these forums, but I'm interested in how other cruisers stow their "sea stores" of wine and bottled spirits? I have had my eye on this device (ZEbag Ultimate Wine Bottle Carrying Case) available from various sites on the web. My thought is that this device can be stored vertically and lashed securely. It also unrolls into a vertical 'wine rack" for in-port use.
I know Lin & Larry say "keep 'em in the bilge" , but what works for everyday cruising so you can actually access the nectar (responsibly!) and don't lose any to Mr. Heel, Ms Roll, or Senor Wave?
...Although Brother Bilge doesn't complain!

[atoll]

old hiking socks work great for stuffing bottles into

[Sailmonkey]

We can fit 34 bottles into our bilge in gym socks. Everything else is kept on the fwd bulkhead on a spirits shelf. Wine usually doesn't survive long enough once pulled from the bilge to worry about storage later. As a plus the bilge is the most stable temperature aboard.


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[Seaworthy Lass]

I store wine in two of our under settee lockers (closest spot on board to the bilge). Each bottle is wrapped in bubblewrap (good protection, lightweight, cheap, readily available, reusable, no absorption of moisture or deterioration).

Even temperature and darkness are simply not enough for good long term storage though. Lack of movement is critical and this is impossible on a boat. I would count on a max storage of a year if the wine is kept low and dark .

SWL

[Tayana42]

Bottles in old socks, stirred in locker near v berth on centerline.


S/V B'Shert

[goboatingnow]

never kept enough long enough to have a storage issue

[barnakiel]

A friend of ours uses a foam holder, similar to this:

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...59yY5RZsNonkYM

Avoid very light foam though, because too many bottles would squash it soon. Also, when the wine is gone, the storage solution is still there, and it does takes up some valuable space ;-(

On our boat, we store our wine inside. Given the rapid deterioration of quality as the wine gets shaken and stirred, we prefer to drink it at its best.

Another neat option is to distill the wine and store it as cognac. It stores better than wine and you can keep about 6 bottles of wine inside of one cognac bottle. We can say that energy density of cognac is more conductive to storage.

Many ways to skin a cat.

b.

[FamilyVan]

Wine can be stored? Funny, mine always ends up in my belly.

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[NornaBiron]

tesco reusable wine carrier - Google Search

We buy 3 or 5 litre boxes with foil inners. They are squarish so easier to store than round, glass bottles. We decant them into reusable glass bottles to go in the fridge for chilling.

Any bottles of wine or spirits that we do have are wrapped in bubblewrap and kept in the supermarket wine carrier bags or boxes that hold 6 bottles. These are easy to wedge under the bed or in a locker.

[Sailor Doug]

Most of my wine storage is in 4 liter bags. I fit a large plastic bin into the bilge and it will hold four bags. (I toss the boxes) this only works for people who like to drink wine rather taste wine. For guess who are the latter I keep a couple of bottled stuff.
Pouring directly from bag works also into a plastic decanter stored in fridge in hot weather.


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[carstenb]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

Wine can be stored? Funny, mine always ends up in my belly.

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yeah, I wondered also. Mabe he's talking about temporary storage - like where do you put 4 cases of wine for a couple of days?

[apacit]

Not that we don't keep the occasional "good bottle", but on the boat we drink Black Box wine. We remove the bag from inside all but one or two boxes. We have a clean but shallow bilge, so they tuck in easily. Apparently you can also buy nicer custom boxes for better presentation. We try to limit cardboard and trash. Bottles are too heavy and fragile. You could fill a settee with bottles and packing or use just a fraction of that with bags and fit it in odd shaped spaces. We also switch to all cans for beer.


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[sailm8]

We drink scotch that we decant into plastic bottles that the cheap stuff comes in. We have friends that have found a way to refill the foil bags in the box wines.

[Scrimshaw4]

I have found that box wine to be the best way to store, pour and save opened wine. The fun part of this is trying the various boxed wine products. More and more are coming on the market as wineries are recognizing the benefits including not introducing air into the wine once opened and then "recorked". I have found that Black Box and Bota Box make the best Cabs and Merlots. The other advantage is that you just can't beat the price. I try not to have any glass on board including "spirits".
Serve what your guests bring but drink what you have.

[chuckr]

We use box wine and on both sides of the Crib we have had no issues finding it. In the Med now we buy it by the jug and having been trying to find a place to refill the jugs. maybe in Greece this summer.