Wine Glass Storage Rule of Thumb:
Before stashing that glass, make sure it is clean and polished!
Storing wet wine glasses is a sure recipe for mold or mildew, as well as unsightly water spots.
If you’re a wine lover, you probably have a collection of wine glasses. Some of them might be cheap glassware from big box stores (no shame in that!), some may be your grandmother’s crystal, and some may be fine wine glasses like Gabriel Glas. If you’ve recently acquired new wine glasses or have undergone a bit of kitchen reorganization, you may be wondering about the best way to store your variety of wine glasses.
In today’s blog, we’re offering tips and tricks for wine glass storage. Whether you’re storing cheap wine glasses, fine wine glasses, or something in between, we have the advice (and a few great products) to help.
Before we continue with our recommendations, though, a little about the KnowWines blog. We are an Amazon.com affiliate and we do receive a small commission if you purchase items through our affiliate links at no cost to you. The commissions we receive help us pay for web hosting fees, products to test, and other costs associated with running this site. Thanks for using our affiliate links and supporting our independent blog!
How to Store Wine Glasses
It might not be obvious how how a wine glass should be stored, especially since you’ve probably seen friends or even restaurants store their wine glasses in different ways.
Below are our recommendations, based on type of glass.
How to Store Expensive Wine Glasses
Fine, thin-rimmed glassware should be stored “bowl up.”
Storing wine glasses with the bowl up significantly reduces the chances of chipping the bowl when putting the glass away and retrieving it from the cupboard. High-end wine glasses are also designed with a robust base for storing upright. Storing on the bowl rim puts a lot of weight on the delicate structure of the rim.
When storing fine wine glasses in this manner, keep them about ½ inch apart so that it’s easy to both store and use the glassware. Again, this reduces the likelihood of chipping the glass. It’s tempting to store glassware “yin/yang” style (one up, one down, in a repeating fashion). This might look nice in the cupboard, but it unfortunately increases the likelihood of tipping over a glass.
How to Store Cheap Wine Glasses
Cheap glassware can be stored on its rim, as they will typically have thicker rims than their fine china cousins.
Cheap wine glasses can also be stored in the boxes they came in. If you didn’t keep the original box or the box they came in is too flimsy, you can purchase wine storage boxes online.
We prefer a banker’s box style since they can be reused for other purposes. Also, they are recyclable when they reach the end of their lives.
When using cardboard boxes to store the wine glasses, remember to clean the glasses before and after storage. This will reduce the likelihood of the glassware taking on a musty box smell.
Rotate Through Your Glassware
Once you’re done storing your wine glasses - whether they are expensive or cheap - be sure to rotate through the individual glasses in a collection. This will prevent those two or three wine glasses you usually reach for from looking more worn than the others due to repeated dishwashing.
How to Prepare a Cupboard or Shelf for Wine Glass Storage
So we’ve solved the “up or down” debate. What about shelf lining - is that necessary?
We store our glassware on maple shelves in our cupboard. Since we don’t currently live in an earthquake-prone area, we’ve left the shelves unlined. However, if you do live in an earthquake-prone area or are especially clumsy (with our without wine), you might consider installing some simple shelf liner. Shelf liner will minimize the movement of wine glasses in an earthquake or and will minimize the accidental tipping that occurs with normal use.
These Gorilla Grip liners are smooth, come in several colors and sizes, and have a 10-year guarantee:
How to Store Wine Glasses in a Small Space
If you live in an apartment or a house with a small kitchen, your wine glasses may have to compete with plates, coffee cups, and small appliances in limited cupboard space.
Happily, there are many different types of under cabinet racks available in a variety of colors. These racks are perfect for small spaces. The only downside to these wine glass racks is that the wine glasses can be broken if you have active cats or children in the space.
If you only have limited cabinet space, but have another area where a free standing rack or ceiling mounted rack is a possibility, here are some solutions. These also might work if you want to keep the wine glasses out of reach of small children (thought they could still be an issue with particularly acrobatic cats!).
We love that this one has extra storage on top that could be used for wine bottles or wine accessories.
And we like ceiling-mounted style for its rustic elegance (it also provides storage for quite a few wine glasses):
How to Store Wine Glasses in a Mobile Home or Boat
Love the RV or boating lifestyle, but want some fine wine glasses for special occasions? Or just want a break from Solo cups? An option other than unbreakable wine glasses is to store a couple of wine glasses in a box especially designed for this purpose. We recommend this one especially for fans of larger, expensive wine glasses.
With this travel case, you can drink wine in style, even when you’re relaxing beside your RV or floating into the sunset on your boat!
The Bottom Line on Storing Wine Glasses
When storing expensive wine glasses, store them “bowl up.” Inexpensive glassware can be stored either up or down, as cheap glassware tends to have thicker bowl rims.
Always be sure to clean and dry your glassware before storage (and afterward!) to prevent mold or mildew and to clean away any dust (or bugs, yuck!) that may have taken up residence in the wine glass during storage.
If you live in an earthquake-prone area or are especially clumsy, consider limiting slippage by installing a shelf liner on the cupboard shelf where you store wine glasses, or consider getting a slide-out rack.
If you like to take your wine glasses on the go, be it an RV, a boat, or on a camping trip, there are options to protect a couple of wine glasses for celebrating those special occasions.
We hope you find success in your wine glass storage endeavors!
Cheers!