MARTHA LIVES
PAGE 86
Bottle Pocket
Shelve your wine in a mailing-tube rack.
by Adrian Van Allen I Photo Aya Brackett
Over time it happens to us all. It starts with a few bottles stashed in the cupboard, then
a few more in the closet, and suddenly you have a sprawling metropolis of merlot taking
over your apartment. When guests arrive, tunneling through dirty laundry in search
of “just the perfect bottle” is très uncouth. And who can remember which one is the
special-occasion reserve and which the “best paired with takeout lasagne”? We have
the answer for all of you oenophiles-in-training: Scour junk shops (or your favorite
office supplier) for some mailing tubes, and set about showing off your chardonnays.
$15
MAKE I
1. Measure the space where you want to install the wine rack. If it’s a shelf, make sure it’s strong
enough to support all those bottles. ( We put ours on a bottom shelf to be safe.) 2. Measure and
mark your tubes in increments of 9" (just enough to cover most of a wine bottle). 3. Cut the tubes
along your marks with the hand saw, taking care to keep the cuts even. Sand off any cardboard
fragments. 4. If you want to paint the tubes, do it now. Make sure they dry completely before con-
tinuing. 5. Stack your tubes. 6. Gather your wine. OCD types may want to come up with their own
systems of categorizing bottle caps with color-coded stickers (to parse out which vintages are for
everyday drinking and which are special occasion Pinots). 7. Raise a toast to your not-so-hard work.
INGREDIENTS:
Cardboard mailing tubes (ours were 3 1/2"
in diameter x 36")
Paint (optional)
Round color-coded stickers (optional)
Plenty of wine
TOOLS:
Measuring tape
Pencil
Hand saw
Sandpaper (200 grit)
Paintbrush (optional)
{ TIP } Use tubes that fit well in your space.
You may get best results with 4" diameter tubes,
and they can accommodate the larger bottles
generally used for cava and champagne.
76 ReadyMade
