The best wine racks for your bottle collection, reviewed

The better the build and material, the better the durability. We tested wine racks on a number of factors to bring you our favourites.

Heated floor? Why not try a wall mounted rack. Wine aficionado? Bottles stored tilting down will help stop corks drying out over time and oxidising your wine. Sometimes showcasing a bottle collection itself is just as high a priority as its practicality so we’ve taken design into account.

If building a wine collection is on your agenda, a 12-bottle rack would be a good starting point. But for those who just want a couple in the kitchen, you don’t need to break the bank. We were looking for wine racks that will last as long as your most prized burgundies. Here are some of our favourite wine racks to help find the right one for your space.

For more unbiased expert buyer's guides, visit our reviews section to find 200+ round-ups of everything from gin to coffee machines.

What are the best wine racks?

RTA 9 bottle stackable rack, £15.99

Best value wine rack

Pros: extendable, sturdy, lightweight
Cons: too small for wider bottles of bubbly

This British-made stackable wine rack by RTA is a classic and reliable design; solid wood screwed into galvanised steel to create a simple storage solution for bottles. You can stand this vertically on your countertop if you're a little short on space or lie it down landscape for an even more stable base.

The wooden slats comfortably support the average 750ml wine bottle along its full length meaning wine doesn’t wobble if the rack is knocked. Swan-necked bottles are not as supported so we’d recommend these being kept on the lowest row.

Although the 9.5cm-wide sections accommodate a variety of sizes, we found that a bottle of Bollinger was best rested on top. If you’re not precious about the bottle labels you would be able to squash it in but this would likely scratch the length of the label. It’s not the ideal order for storing your most expensive bubbly on the top, but this wine rack is stable enough to trust.

Thanks to a clip system, this can be extended or connected to other racks to boost your bottle count. And it's not that pricey to do. For the money, you get a stable, strong and trustworthy wine rack.

Available from Amazon (£15.99)

Nkuku Obra 12 bottle industrial wine rack, £180

Best freestanding wine rack

Pros: great combination of style and stability
Cons: pricey

Everything about the Obra wine bottle rack is solid. With a mango wood top sitting on a dark iron frame, the resulting rack is durable enough to double as a side table for your living room or an additional surface in your kitchen.

The arches cradle standard wine bottles well. Smaller bottles like Bitters will slip through the bars on their own, but because standard bottles lie close together, these can be rested easily between them. Taking this into account, the rack can hold much more than 12 bottles.

If you’re looking for a contemporary wine rack for your kitchen, this is a practical and stylish option.

Available from Nkuku (£180)

Cotswold Chester Grey Oakland 24 bottle wine cabinet, £199

Best large wine rack

Pros: 24-bottle capacity, becomes an additional work surface
Cons: large footprint

The Cotswold Chester wine rack is just the right height to become an additional work surface, either as an extension to your kitchen counter or as piece of functional furniture in its own right.

It’s deceptively small in size and footprint, despite having capacity for 24 bottles. With each section being 10.5cm-wide, every bottle we tried was easily accommodated. They were also protected from all sides so you'd know everything from your best bubbly to unopened olive oil or balsamic would be safe in a busy family kitchen.

Plus, if you have underfloor heating, the wooden feet mean the cabinet sits above the floor, protecting your bottles from being warmed.

Available from Cotswold Co (£199)

Oka Jadis 12 bottle wine rack, £155

Best statement wine rack

Pros: great for a varied collection
Cons: design isn't for everyone

Despite the distressed antique ‘bronze’ and ‘verdigris’ design of Oka’s Jadis wine rack, its actually made of iron and is, unsurprisingly, sturdy enough to stay balanced however you stack your bottles.

Every section is 10cm in width and easily accommodated the widest champagne bottle we had. We particularly liked that each ‘pipe’ is staggered so that whatever the height of your bottle (for example, beers) it would not get lost within the rack.

The inside of each pipe is not abrasive but textured enough to offer resistance to bottle movement, supported by a rounded ridged lip. Both factors will reduce the risk of any falling out if your rack is nudged.

Available from Oka (£155)

Kingrack stackable 5 bottle rack, £15.95

Best countertop wine rack

Pros: preassembled, extendable
Cons: only holds 5 bottles on its own

If you’re short on space and looking for a countertop wine rack that’s simple, this is a great one to consider. Bottles are pyramids stacked inside and on top of the diamond shaped sections in a 3x2 format.

Reinforced sections between the top two bottles allow for another rack or two to be safely added, creating a 10-bottle capacity rack. It’s sturdy, small in footprint and relatively cheap – leaving you with money to spend on the wine, not the storage.

There's no backstop for the bottles so we suggest pushing this rack up against a wall in a busy kitchen.

Available from Amazon (£15.95)

The Oak & Rope Company solid oak wine rack, £185

Best wall mounted wine rack

Pros: can be personalised to make a great gift
Cons: needs to be fixed with strong wall fixings

If you want to show off your favourite bottles as well as mark a special occasion, this wall-mounted wine rack makes a nice novelty gift.

Ten holes have been drilled through this chunk of solid oak and feels sturdy, fixed with two brackets on the back. The bottles hang through each hole unaided so once slotted in, create a decorative fan effect up the wall.

What’s important to think about is that the wall you attach this to must be strong enough to accommodate it. Once loaded with ten of your favourite bottles, the last thing you want is the wooden rack falling off or tilting. There is an optional version for champagne bottles if you prefer bubbly.

Available from Not On The High Street (£185)

How we tested wine racks

Bottles we tested with:

• Bollinger champagne
• Standard red and white wine bottles
• Sauternes
• Port
• Brandy
• Cans

We reviewed a represenative sample of wine racks and scored them against the following criteria.

Quality: we were looking for wine racks that would last as long as your most prized burgundies. The better the materials and build, the better the durability.

Capacity: you should be able to store at least six average size wine bottles in a wine rack and ideally, 12.

Functionality: a good wine rack will accommodate a variety of bottles in all shapes and sizes, from wide champagne bottles to smaller speciality wines like sauternes.

Versatility: some wine racks are tall and robust enough to act as additional side tables or work tops.

Stability: whether it's for the countertop or freestanding, the last thing you want is a wobbly wine rack. We weighted bottles from side to side to check the rack wouldn’t topple however you stacked them.

Design: with a stylish wine rack, showcasing your bottle collection can become a decorative statement.

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This review was last updated in March 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.

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