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x-post from home building...wine 'closet' anyone?

14 years ago

I'm looking to see if anyone has built a wine "closet."

We have some room and I've done some web searches.

Vapor lock seal, insulation, fans/cooling unit...is it all worth it?

I don't buy extremely expensive wine that requires decades of cellaring.

I currently have a basement and just lay the wines there. The new house won't have a basement.

Any thoughts, opinions, etc. are welcome.

Comments (5)

lascatx
14 years ago
We looked at it, but we would have been retrofitting an existing closet and been more limited in space and access and more costly than getting a freestanding one. We originally put that in another location and then realized that if we removed the door and hinges from the closet we had thought about retrofitting, we could slide the unit into that space. Unless you have a large collection or have special needs, I'd be inclined to just build a space for a ready made cellar unit.
sfcitydweller
14 years ago
If you don't have a huge wine collection then Lascatx has a great idea of putting a freestanding wine cooler/fridge into the exsiting closet space. We are bulding a wine room in the new house. It started out as a closet but ended up being a room because we learend the cost was roughly the same. This was due to all the things you mentioned, seals, cooling unites, venting, insulation, and we also learned you need to drill a drain for the cooling unit. We currently have 2 160 bottle Vinotemp freestanding wine cellar, they are great but we need more space. We got ours from Home Depot with free shipping.

Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: VinoTemp 160 Cellar
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plllog
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What kind of climate does the new house have? What kind of insulation? Even if they're not expensive, do you lay down wines for years ahead, or buy your wines aged and drink them within a year or so?

Even a normally cool place can get hot enough to disturb wine during a heat wave (voice of experience). That being the case, and since A/C can fail, blackouts happen, etc., it's best to keep wines away from exterior walls, and low. A little extra insulation, and some cool retainers like concrete or tile, can make a fairly inexpensive wine cupboard. But if you have more wine than will fit in a a small cupboard, you probably have more wine than you can drink in a season. In that case, yes, it's worth putting in a stoarage apparatus, whether it's tricked out wine closet/room, a freestanding cellar, or just a wine fridge.

How much money do you have invested in your inexpensive wines? I would guess that the total would be a good guide for how much to spend on storing it. (Of course, if you had a proper cellar you might be motivated to increase your oenophilia).
wallycat
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all so much.
WOW, that Vinotemp is gorgeous....I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw the cost versus storage ratio.
I guess I'm spoiled having a basement. I have had, at one point, a collection of 800 bottles...granted they were not all expensive, but some aged very well in 1-2 years.
I'm thinking 1-2 years is probably all I think I'll need.

Pllog, concrete...wow, thank you! I plan to have tile in the kitchen anyway and the "closet" is off the pantry/kitchen area. Maybe that is all I need...unless I win the lottery for my high-priced taste of wine...but then I can get a different house ;-)

I appreciate all the input.

SFcitydweller...WOW...a wine room. That would be my favorite place in the house! LOL.
sfcitydweller
14 years ago
If you are storing 800 bottles, then a wine room/closet is the way to go. We are working with about the same number of bottles. How big is the closet in question? Would all your bottles fit?

Here is the place we are getting are racking from and it may be useful to you!

The original wine 'closet' has now become a room, and my laundry room ,which is next door, keeps getting smaller! The DH is no longer allowed to meet with the Architects without me!

Here is a link that might be useful: Grotto wine racking

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