Design and Create a Residential Wine Cellar

Collecting and sharing fine wine is a great way to entertain and relax with your family and friends. To showcase the wine you have collected, you can design and create a wine cellar to properly store it.

Your residential wine cellar can be as small as a stand-alone wine cooler that can accommodate a case or two of wine, or as big as a room dedicated solely to storing your wine collection on custom-made shelves. Here are some things to consider when you design and create a personal wine cellar in your home.

A residential wine cellar no longer has to be allocated to a basement for proper storage. You can install your wine cellar anywhere in your home that is cool, dry, away from direct sunlight and vibration, and away from heating and air conditioning vents.

One good place for a residential wine cellar is in the space underneath a flight of stairs. You can build wine shelves and racks and enclose the space with a door to easily control the light, humidity, and temperature.

One reason to keep the wine in your collection visible is so you can see them often and not allow them to be stored too long. Each wine has a time range when it should ideally be consumed for the best taste and bouquet.

To keep track of the wine in your collection, keep an inventory list of all your wines. Record the name of the vintage, the date when it was bottled, when and where you bought it, and how long it has been stored.

Use this inventory list to know when a bottle of wine is at its best and ready to be served.

When designing your residential wine cellar, remember that wine is traditionally stored horizontally on wine racks. This position will keep the wine against the cork to keep the cork moist and not allow oxygen to enter the bottle and change the taste of the wine.

These wine racks can be stationary or swing out for easy access to insert or remove a bottle of wine.

Temperature variation is the greatest threat to wine in storage. Wine should be stored between 45ºF and 65ºF, with the optimal storage temperature being 55ºF. This temperature will prevent stored wine from aging prematurely, as well as losing character and flavor.

For the best taste, avoid storing your wine collection near a kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, or indoor spa, as those locations can become too warm and damp.

Wherever you create your wine cellar, you can also create a place to uncork and serve your wine. This can be a small work area in an alcove near your wine storage shelves.

You can keep all of your wine cellar supplies such as corkscrews, a knife to cut and remove a foil wine cap, drip stop rings, a wine thermometer, wine and champagne glasses, decanters, and your wine inventory list in this area. You can also stock this area with temporary rubber wine stoppers to seal an unfinished bottle of wine.

Depending on the location where you live, the ideal humidity level for storing wine is between 50-80% of the ambient environment. This percentage was chosen to keep the wine cork moist and the wine label intact without peeling away from the bottle or becoming moldy. Periodically check the humidity levels of your wine cellar for the best wine.

When you design and create your custom residential wine cellar, contact Chandler's Parts and Service. Our trained specialists can help you choose the best equipment for your particular residence and can also provide parts, service, and repairs should you need them later.