Greetings again and welcome to ALMOST spring! As wine cellar business ramps up again for the spring home project building rush, we are getting a lot of questions about the stain we apply to our racking. Here is an exerpt from a recent question we received that I thought would be good to share:
Question: “…I was checking out your photo gallery and found a lot of wine racks that were finished. This is the way I would prefer to go but I have been cautioned that the stain would change the taste of the wine. Is this true, and if so does it change the outcome of the cellar?” – Ron S. MI
This was a very good question that deserved a detailed answer:
“Thank you for your inquiry. Stain can definitely be a confusing step in your cellar project. While we cannot account for all of the photos we receive from our customers, Wine Racks America only uses and recommends water-based stain with our wine cellar products. We recommend avoiding oil-based stains and urethane products commonly used in furniture finishes.
Why? Water based stain does not contain the harsh chemicals found in oil stain or polyurethane, which CAN damage your wine after exposure, especially when the cellar is new (they seep through the cork).
As a result our stained redwood cellar products have a matte finish, and are medium reddish-brown in color. Our special recipe stain is semi-transparent and will even out color variations in the redwood without completely covering the beautiful redwood grain.
Consequently, our cellars look “finished” but not “glossy”, and are safe to use immediately with your wine. We have lots of great references and have finished hundreds of wine cellars with no known issues.”
While stain can be a tricky subject and there are plenty of differering approaches to it out there, this is hopefully some good information that will help those of you out there with questions about applying finish and/or stain to your wine cellar. Have a great day!
Jeff O.