One relativelynewalternative to theconventional
cellar isawalk-inwinevault.Theycome ready-made in
avarietyof sizes tofit inmosthomes. Industry innova-
torVinotempevenofferspre-fabwine-vaultkits that,
foranominal charge, canbecustom-built toyourexact
roomspecifications. “Theyshipbrokendownas inter-
lockingpanels, andyouput them together to theexact
dimensionsofyourwall,”explainsVinotemppresident
IndiaHynes,whosecompanyproduceseverything
fromunder-the-counterwine refrigeratorsandcustom-
builtwoodwinecabinets tobespokecellars. “Building
acellarcanbeawholeordeal ifyouhave togreen-
board thewalls, insulate, ventilate, andadd thecooling
and rackingsystems,”addsHynes, noting thatacus-
tomcellarcaneasily reachfivefigures. “With thissys-
tem, youcancreateyourownwinecellar inany room
foras littleas$3,000,”shesays.
Moreover, just about anyspaceyoucan imagine—
from insideacloset andunderastairwell toasmall
windowdormer—canbeoutfitted forwinestorage.
But builderscaution that some locationsmaynot beop-
timal. “Ideally, youwant yourwinecellar tobe in the
coolest part of thehouse, and thenortheast corner (in
theWesternHemisphere) is thebest because it’sgoing
tobehit bysun the least,”explainsDe laMataofMas-
terCellars.Next, “youhave tofigureoutwhere toex-
haust thewarmair from thecoolingsystem,”headds,
explaininghowproperly installedcellarscanaccom-
modateeitheraductedcoolingsystem, likea typical
house furnace, oraductlesssystem, similar toa
window-sizeair conditioner, thatventilatesoutside the
room. Professionalssay it’sbest tounderstandyour
budget andstorageneedsbeforedecidingonasystem
that is right foryou.
“Thecost canvarydependingon thenumberof bot-
tlesyouwant tostore,” saysTonyWilke, vicepresi-
dent of operationsatWineCellar Innovations, a
Cincinnati-basedcompanyofferingcellardesign, rack-
ing, andcoolingservicesat everyprice level. “Asmall
closet remodel holding500bottlesor lesscanbedone
for less than$10,000,whereas larger roomsholding
1,000 to2,000bottlescancost asmuchas$50,000or
more,”hesays. Inoneextremecase, saysWilke, the
companybuilt acustomcellarholdingmore than
25,000bottles that reached thesix-figuremark.Appro-
priately, thecompanyadaptedabank-vault door to
serveas thecellarentrance.
Onefinal tip: “Figure out howmanybottles you
want to store and thenadd room for a littlemore,”
saysVinotemp’sHynes, “because if you reallyappre-
ciatewine, youalways endupoutgrowing the space
to store it.”
➤
master sommelier James well
HOME
Stellar Cellars
FALL 2010
celebratedliving.com
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Sub-Zero, (800) 222-7820, subzero.com
Vinotemp International, (800) 777-8466, vinotemp.com
