wine wednesday - riddling rack storage

two of my favorite things in the whole world - wine and storage - come together so perfectly in this magical piece of multi-tasting furniture. several years ago i fell in love with a wine rack similar to this at simon pearce. i just thought it was the perfect piece of furniture/wine storage/home decor and i wanted it immediately. unfortunately, it wasn't for sale, so i walked away empty handied and have been on a quest ever since.

and in my extensive research i have learned that this wine rack is actually something called a riddling rack and it dates back to the early 1800s and the champagne region of france. riddling is the part of the champagne making process when the the yeast and sediment collects and is concentrated near the mouth of the bottle. after initial fermentation, the bottles are inclined at a 45-degree angle on a riddling rack, which is made up of two simple rectangular boards hinged at the top (see bel0w) the riddler puts the neck of a bottle of champagne in each of the holes and on a daily basis over the next few weeks, the riddler rotates every bottle a few degrees and after a few weeks bottles that started at a 45-degree angle are now slanted to a 60-degree angle.

and while this might have been a long, painstacking and exhausting process, we get to reap the rewards of their efforts by enjoying the wonderful taste of sparkling champagne and using the racks as functional, and decorative wine storage in our homes today! seems a unfair, doesn't it?

now i just need to find someone to recreate a rack for me out of antique vermont barn wood... hmm...wherever will i find such a person?

{via vintage at heart, antique atlas, and etsy}