The complete guide
How to Choose and Fit an Under-Cabinet Wine Glass Rack
The problem with storing wine glasses
Wine glasses are the most badly behaved item in most kitchens. They are tall, so they do not fit alongside plates. They are fragile, so you cannot stack them. And the bowl is wider than the foot, so even standing upright in a row they waste a strip of shelf nobody else can use.
What usually happens is that glasses get shoved to the back of a high cupboard and only come out at Christmas. Or they live on the worktop, where they collect dust and get knocked. Neither is great. If you actually like a glass of wine on a weeknight, you want the glasses somewhere you can reach without moving three other things first.
An under-cabinet rack solves this by using space that is already there and doing nothing. The 10 cm of air below a wall cabinet or an open shelf is dead space in nearly every kitchen. Hang a rack in it and you have storage for six to eight glasses without giving up a single shelf.
How a hanging stemware rack works
The design is simple. Two parallel rails run the length of the rack with a gap between them. The foot of a wine glass is wider than the stem, so when you slide the stem into the gap, the foot sits on top of the rails and the glass hangs. Gravity does the rest.
Because the glass hangs mouth-down, the inside stays clean. That is why bars have done it this way for a very long time. Nothing settles in the bowl, and the rim is not resting on a shelf picking up whatever was there before.
This particular rack is 35 cm along its length with two rows. Capacity is around 6 to 8 glasses, which sounds vague but is honest, because it genuinely depends on your glasses. A set of slim flutes with 6 cm bases will fit more than a set of wide burgundy glasses with 9 cm bases. Measure the foot of one of your glasses and divide 35 by that number for a rough count per row.
Who it suits
This kind of rack makes the most sense for a few situations.
If you have a small kitchen and limited cupboard space, it is one of the best space saving glass storage options going, because it costs you nothing in shelf area. If you have a home bar corner, a drinks trolley with a shelf above it, or a sideboard with an open shelf, a hanging rack gives the whole setup a finished look and keeps glasses to hand.
It is also worth considering if you entertain. Having glasses visible and reachable means you are not digging through a cupboard while guests wait. And if you run a café or small bar, overhead stemware storage is standard practice for good reason.
Where it makes less sense is if you only own stemless glasses or tumblers. The rack needs a stem to work. There is nothing clever to be done about that.
Measuring before you buy
Two measurements matter, and they take about a minute.
First, measure the run of shelf underside you want to use. You need at least 35 cm of clear, flat surface with nothing in the way: no hinges, no light fittings, no door that swings into the space. If you have more than 35 cm, you can fit a second rack alongside later.
Second, measure the height of your tallest glass and compare it to the clearance under the shelf. Add a couple of centimetres on top for the rack itself. If your wine glasses are 23 cm tall and you have 30 cm between the shelf and the worktop, you are comfortable. If you have 24 cm, the glasses will clear but you will be knuckling them every time you reach past.
Also check the base width of your glasses so you know the rail gap will take them. Most standard wine glass feet are fine, but oversized show glasses occasionally are not.
Fitting it properly
Installation is a short job. The rack comes with mounting screws and screw covers, and the only real skill is measuring twice.
Start by holding the rack up where you want it and marking the screw positions with a pencil. Pull it back a little from the front edge of the shelf so glasses do not stick out into the room. Drill pilot holes slightly narrower than the screws. Pilot holes matter, because driving screws straight into chipboard or MDF without them can split the material.
Drive the screws until the rack sits flush, then fit the covers. Do not overtighten in soft board, since the thread can strip and the fixing will feel loose from day one.
Before you drill, check what is above the shelf. The underside of a wall cabinet usually has nothing but the cabinet interior above it, which is fine. The underside of a shelf fixed to a wall might have something behind it. If you cannot see, have a look first.
If you are fixing to metal, stone or very thin shelving, the included screws are not the right tool. Pick up appropriate fixings before you start rather than halfway through.
Living with it
Load the heavier glasses across the two rows rather than crowding one end. That keeps the weight even across the fixings.
Slide glasses in and out rather than lifting them at an angle, which is kinder to both the rack and the feet of the glasses. If you have a very full rack, take the outer glass first instead of fishing one from the middle.
Give the rack a wipe with a damp cloth every few weeks, especially if it is near a cooktop, because kitchen grease settles on everything within range. Dry it afterwards. Skip abrasive cleaners and scourers on the black finish.
Check the screws every few months. Anything that gets used daily works loose eventually, and a quarter turn on each screw takes seconds.
A few practical details
The rack is made of metal, finished in black, in a plain modern style. It is 5 cm deep, 21.6 cm wide and 35 cm long, and weighs 0.38 kg. The listing names Dianoo as the brand and manufacturer, with model number WGRLUO3502BL. It is intended for indoor use.
The pack contains the rack and a pack of screws including covers. Assembly is required and the rack is not customisable.
Country of origin and warranty terms are not specified in this record. If either matters for your purchase, ask us before you order and we will check.
A note on style
Black metal is an easy finish to live with. Against white or pale timber cupboards it draws a clean line and reads as deliberate. Against dark cabinetry it almost disappears, which is useful if you want the storage without the visual noise. Either way, it is the hanging glasses that people notice, not the rack.
If you are building a home bar look, a run of two or three racks along a shelf underside does a lot of work for very little money. It looks considered, and it is genuinely more useful than a glass-fronted cabinet, because everything is one reach away.
The short version
If you have spare space under a cabinet or shelf, a stemware rack turns it into real storage. Measure your shelf run and your glass height, check the base width of your glasses, drill carefully, and you will have six to eight glasses hanging clean and ready in about twenty minutes. For small kitchens and home bars in particular, it is one of the cheapest upgrades you can make that you will notice every single week.