Spice Up Your Dinner Parties with These Wine Rack Tables
Entertaining friends and family is always in season, and the perfect furniture can set the stage for lively dinner gatherings filled with fantastic food, engaging conversations, and great wines flowing well into the night.
For wine collectors and oenophiles especially, optimal wine storage and serving convenience when hosting guests are essential. Enter the wine rack dining table--a style of furniture that artfully brings together dining space with built-in wine storage.
Types of Built-In Wine Rack Dining Tables
These unique tables come in several varieties with custom design features to not only store and showcase fine wines but also enhance your culinary gatherings.
Pedestal Base Tables
A popular rendition, pedestal base dining tables with wine racks have a sturdy central base pillar for support instead of separate legs. This allows for open space below, perfect for tucking away a wine rack unobtrusively. These base racks can hold 6-12 bottles on average.
Pedestal rack tables open up floor space since no further furnishings like sideboards or dedicated cellar towers are needed--it's already built in. Many include handy extras like glass hanging racks for keeping stemware within arm's reach, pull-out trays for storing flatware or bar accessories, even drawers for dining linens. And with a range of available finishes from dark espresso to rustic pine wood grains, they can match any existing decor beautifully.
Counter Height Pub-Style Tables
For a relaxed, fun ambiance reminiscent of an intimate wine bar, counter height dining tables are a great option for seamlessly infusing wine storage. These taller tables are designed for paired seating with bar stools instead of standard dining chairs.
Frequently featuring casual styling like weathered barn wood finishes, metal accents, and wine racks tucked within a pub-style base, counter height rack tables are fantastic additions to kitchens, entertainment rooms, and al frescoes. Vintage leather stools paired with one finished with sheesham wood and an iron X-base rack with room for 18 bottles takes any decor up a stylish notch.
Expandable Dining Tables
Perfect for adapting to everyday meals or larger dinner parties as needed, expandable dining tables with built-in wine storage offer superb flexibility. Extension rack tables come with leaf inserts that easily widen the table surface for additional place settings when entertaining a crowd--then tuck away seamlessly when not in use.
Extension rack dining tables open outward via smooth gliding tracks or cleverly concealable drop-down panels built into the sides. Expanded, a small four-person table can become an eight-person seating space able to host impressive dinner soirees. These convenient tables frequently couple expanded dining capacity with complementary features like self-serving lazy susans built right in for effortless food and wine sharing.
Best Practices for Integrating Wine Storage
To make the most of your wine rack dining table, incorporating proper wine cellar conditions will keep stored vintages at peak quality.
Rack capacity is key--generally large enough for 12-30 standard 750ml bottles. Measure bottle sizes like Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Merlot, and Champagne-style to ensure adequate storage room. Cool environments around 55degF with 60-75% humidity prevent natural corks from drying out. Minimal light exposure and vibration-free settings also preserve wine over months or years.
Wine rack materials range from metal netting to slotted wood, with either option fine as long as bottles don't shift and risk disturbing sediment. Individual divided cell holes keep bottles isolated and labeled for identification. Sections oriented horizontally facilitate accessing and rearranging bottles while minimizing sediment disruption compared to vertically stacked designs.
The Convenience Factor
Blending wine tasting and dining spaces streamlines hosting guests by having two key entertainment areas combined into one sleek piece of furniture. With wines housed directly under the tabletop, hosts can seamlessly pour and serve perfect pairings without excusing themselves to a basement cellar or separate bar station.
Meal preparation and cleanup are easier as well--no need for trips back and forth to the kitchen retrieving special vintages from other rooms. Necessary glassware is always close at hand, thanks to custom racks tucked discreetly below the table or mounted underneath the surface apron.
For smaller spaces like apartments or condos, a wine rack dining table pulls double furniture duty, maximizing both storage capacity and functionality from one consolidated furnishing.
Visually Enhancing Your Dining Area
Beyond practical food and wine conveniences, rack tables lend gorgeous visual flair making impressive style statements as dining focal points.
Mixing Design Elements
The eclectic mixture of metals, woods, glass surfaces, and rack displays makes for intriguing contrasts. Iron bases support reclaimed wood plank tabletops in darkened walnut hues. Antique bronze finishes pair with the clean lines of beveled glass table inserts. Curving branches of matte black powder coated metal vines form wine rack pedestals below transparent glass dining surfaces.
Playing with Textures
Respectively rough, weathered barn siding tabletops balance sleek bases of polished cement layered over iron frameworks. The fluidity of shapely table legs in smooth curved steel complements the sturdy utilitarian nature of rectangular slotted pine wine racks tucked within.
Visually, rack tables feel welcoming and informal yet still refined. Texture mixes keep them anchoring dining spaces without overwhelming the room. Their clever slim profiles easily integrate without dominating decor schemes.
Smart Multi-Purpose Furniture Shopping Tips
When investing in a wine rack dining table, keep the following pointers in mind:
Carefully assess both dining needs--regular seating requirements, table dimensions, table height preferences--along with wine storage necessities. Measure your space's square footage to determine realistic size options. Compare build construction and weight capacities to ensure durability for years of serving daily meals and supporting bottle-laden racks.
Evaluate extra features like extension leaf inserts, cabinets, or drawers based on added conveniences worth the investment. But steer clear of overcomplicated assemblies that could break down faster.
Compare quality indicators like furniture-grade wood finishes, durable yet smooth metal rack integration, and seamless leaf extension tracks. Beautiful finely sanded wood surfaces easily damage without protective sealants, so inspect finishes closely.
Price often reflects finer construction, but some affordable wholesalers like Wayne Barton HomeDecor Catalog offer solid dining sets with wine storage built in. Occasionally browse clearance sales too for even steeper deals.
For wine enthusiasts also needing expanded dining furnishings, rack tables multitask beautifully. Their integrated wine displays make entertaining seamless while eliminating additional storage furniture. And their casually elegant styling enhances room decor aesthetics effortlessly.