Wine Cellars and Design

If you've decided to build your own wine cellar, chances are you're looking for plenty of information on what factors are essential for the proper storage of your fine vintages. While there are plenty of great books and websites that have this information, we'll help get you started with the basics.

First of all, you'll need a cellar. You needn't use your entire basement for wine storage; in fact, it's a better idea to devote one small corner or, even better, a room with walls and a door within your basement to your wine cellar. This will help keep temperature constant and ensure that your wines are less disturbed by common daily activity in the basement. Some connoisseurs argue that vibration can affect the taste of your wine; you wouldn't want to ruin some good bottles by washing a load of clothes next to them. If no separate room is available, you'll need to wall off one corner of the basement to be used for wine storage, as it will have to be an enclosed space.

The size of your wine cellar is up to you. Consider how much wine you have and leave some room if you decide to expand in the future. Once you've located the area, you'll need to fill the cellar with custom racks or wine cabinets to hold the wine. Using wine racks, which can be configured to suit any space, is ideal if the room you're using is temperature-controlled. Wine racks expose the bottles to open air, so if you're using a refrigerated space this will be fine. If, however, this doesn't suit your budget or your plans, consider filling the area with refrigerated wine cabinets.

You might wonder why you would devote an entire room to refrigerated wine cabinets, which can be placed anywhere and not just in a wine cellar. The answer to that is simple. Devoting an entire room to wine storage is a great idea because of the fact that it lessens the disturbance of the wine and ensures its safety. Darkness is also important, so having a separate room where you can close the door before removing the wine from the cabinets will help ensure the proper maintenance of the wine.

You may also consider a combination of wine racks and wine cabinets in your wine cellar. An enclosed room in the cellar is also essential for this purpose, as it helps maintain a constant temperature and humidity.

However you decide to go about configuring your wine cellar, the first step is to plan thoroughly. Think about what type of storage suits your needs best before proceeding. Your wine will thank you.