# Do many of you actually have a Wine Cellar?



## myakkagldwngr

I know that once you get a little North of the state line, you can start talking basements. But here in the SwampShine State, a basement would raise fish.
I worked on a home where they planned on having a wine cellar under the steps going up to the 2nd floor of the house. The 1st floor was in a flood zone and not considered living space.
So do many of you Northern nieghbors use a basement, or just on of the spare rooms in the house.
I have to figure something out soon for here. Maybe when I have on of the rooms the kids are in now back.


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## St Allie

I keep my wine in the barn. It's lined and insulated, with a concrete floor.

Allie


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## Repsolal

Corner of the basement, exterior block walls, concrete floor is approx 6' below grade and insulated to R20 down to 2' above the floor, 2 interior walls are also cement block and completely insulated with an insulated door. 71 degrees in 
the utility room but the coldroom/cellar in the corner is at 64. During the summer the utility room was up to 80 and the coldroom/cellar never got above
65.


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## Tom

Here is just a "small" part of my wine cellar






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## TheTooth

I have a 7x9 insulated room in my garage with a wine refrigeration unit in it. I'd love to have an actual underground cellar, but as someone said earlier, It would be a pond instead if I tried.


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## Wade E

I have a wine making room and a wine storing room in my cellar. in my wine making room I also have a fridge where I keep all my beer and wine on tap.


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## myakkagldwngr

There has to be a big screen tv, bathroom and at least a comfy recliner.
Why would you even want to leave a room like that.
Oh yeah, wife and job...I forgot.


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## Wade E

Well I could surely forget the job and depending on which day even the wife and kids. I do have a 17" laptop on which I have a 160 gig hardrive and could hook up my terabytes of dvd's on to. I have all 763 movies ripped and burned onto hardrives and dvds that were rented. I dont do it anymore though as I got tired of getting new software every 6 months to keep up withn the decrypting and burning.


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## Daisy317

I am working on plans for an actual wine under my basement stairs where I'm guesstimating that I should be able to store a few thousand bottles floor to ceiling... The boyfriend says we need to side the garage before we blah blah blah...  but soon!

I like the idea of having an actual "wine cellar" because it helps to keep things out of sight and mind when you get visitors who want to try everything you have, or heaven forbid, take the precious bottles home with them!

I live in Pennsylvania and it is pretty common for people to have finished basements with living and storage space.


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## Wade E

"Get R Done!"


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## Midwest Vintner

Daisy317 said:


> The boyfriend says we need to side the garage before we blah blah blah...  but soon!



just use some of your womanly influence. might make that soon be now

getting over 1000 bottles is tough. we make over 250 yearly and after 6 yrs, we have ~400 bottles. very, very slow to grow.

100 posts


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## Daisy317

That's his main defense on why we don't need one "yet". He says we can make due with just a little dinky wine rack since we go through most of what we have quickly. I want to make a wine cellar under the stairs that I can "grow into". 

If I could keep my collection locked up and away from his friends when he says things like "oh hey, you gotta try this!" and opens every bottle to give it all away, I could have a bigger collection! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not stingy, I'd just like more than a few bottles to get the chance to properly age.


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## Tom

Midwest Vintner said:


> just use some of your womanly influence. might make that soon be now
> 
> getting over 1000 bottles is tough. we make over 250 yearly and after 6 yrs, we have ~400 bottles. very, very slow to grow.
> 
> 100 posts




NOT in this house.
I make my LEGAL limit and thats 1,000 bottles


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## TheTooth

Daisy317 said:


> That's his main defense on why we don't need one "yet". He says we can make due with just a little dinky wine rack since we go through most of what we have quickly. I want to make a wine cellar under the stairs that I can "grow into".
> 
> If I could keep my collection locked up and away from his friends when he says things like "oh hey, you gotta try this!" and opens every bottle to give it all away, I could have a bigger collection!
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I'm not stingy, I'd just like more than a few bottles to get the chance to properly age.



Remind him that he can be an ex-boyfriend.


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## Daisy317

now that is a good point!::


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## Runningwolf

I Live in North west Pa and I have a wine storage room in my basement with a capacity of about 500 bottles and that could grow if need be.
Although the racks were mostly empty in this picture 8 months ago, they are mostly filled now. I have storage on all four walls.


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## Tom

[email protected]@king good !


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## Wade E

Very nice!


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## Midwest Vintner

Tom said:


> NOT in this house.
> I make my LEGAL limit and thats 1,000 bottles



1k bottles a year making or overall in storage? 

iirc, 200 gal/ year limit is for making, but not storage. sounds like alot of wine, but we'll be making batches bigger than that hopefully.


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## Tom

I SAID I MAKE 1,000 BOTTLE I HAVE MUCH MORE
200 gallons = 1,000 bottles
BTW ask Joeswine he has seen my cellar


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## mmadmikes1

can you count a 6 gallon carboy as 1 "BIG" bottle


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## Tom

Now that would be nice. Sorry to say in the eyes of our government its 1,000 750 ML bottles


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## Leanne

I'm really glad the law is different over here. We can make and store as much as we want as long as don't sell it.
I have a large cellar. Lots of wineracks floor to ceiling. I show it off to those special guests but keep a few bottles handy outside of the cellar for those that might go for my "best" stuff.


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## Tom

Leanne,
Can we see pictures?


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## Leanne

Tom, I'm a technology idiot. I have absolutely no idea how to do that. I might borrow a five year old to show me how sometime.


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## Daisy317

Runningwolf said:


> I Live in North west Pa and I have a wine storage room in my basement with a capacity of about 500 bottles and that could grow if need be.
> Although the racks were mostly empty in this picture 8 months ago, they are mostly filled now. I have storage on all four walls.



In the words of Borat "very niiiiiice"


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## myakkagldwngr

I have to admit, I'm jealous of the wine rooms you have but I also understand that you've been at it a little longer than my four months.
So far I still use my home office for almost everything. It's getting kind of tight on space with the desks, computers, large format printer and not to mention the signed plans I keep copies of.
I think when one of the bedrooms gets unoccupied, it might have to become my wine room.
I built my first set of bottle shelves yesterday. Surprised me when I realized I had three bottles more than it would hold. I guess a decent start.


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## gonzo46307

Right now I have a "wine crawlspace", it's functional for now, but, I anticipate the need for a more controlled environment down the line. I'm thinking of building a room in the garage, then having a small wine fridge (30 bottles or so) in the house, just to keep them handy.

Of course, if I win the powerball, the sky's the limit.

Peace,
Bob


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## xanxer82

Daisy317 said:


> That's his main defense on why we don't need one "yet". He says we can make due with just a little dinky wine rack since we go through most of what we have quickly. I want to make a wine cellar under the stairs that I can "grow into".
> 
> If I could keep my collection locked up and away from his friends when he says things like "oh hey, you gotta try this!" and opens every bottle to give it all away, I could have a bigger collection!
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I'm not stingy, I'd just like more than a few bottles to get the chance to properly age.



You just need to go to more & bigger fermenters and carboys


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## Dufresne11

*My God!*

I have to get working. Wade, it is hurtful the way you keep making me look at that wine room of yours. 

I finished half of my basement for a workshop once. After it was studded insulated, wired and sheetrocked my bride came down to see my progress and said "what a great playroom this would be for the boys". 
I have two boys ages 5 and 2, so I wainscoted and painted it and bought a 12 x 20 workshop for the yard.

Anyways I am now finishing off the rest of the basement because my bride thought it would be a good idea, (she is right, plus it gives me something to do and keeps me out of her hair). I insisted on an area for my wine. I am rethinking the design now though. Thanks for the ideas


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## myakkagldwngr

Ifin I had the money I would consider designing me a concrete room with a concrete ceiling and then cover her up with dirt. We sure can't have a basement here in Florida. The water table is just about always only 20 or so inches below ground level and then in the rainy season its 6 inches above ground level. 
Then during hurricanes I could sit in my wine cellar/hurricane shelter/bomb shelter and get wasted while the wind blew.


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## traveler

I am envious of those of you that have dedicated wine rooms, nice! 

I have a room in one corner of the basement that my wife refers to as 'the dungeon'. It is a multi purpose room. (for now). I have a table for doing my bottling etc, in the middle of the room. I can store 96 bottles on the racks built as part of the table, plus I have some other racks against one wall. Against the other wall I have a 'electronics work bench' where I pursue my hobby of computers and the likes. I have another table where I pursue my amateur radio hobby. Tucked away in an alcove is my gun cabinet. Do I spend a lot of time in the 'Dungeon'? You might say so, and yes it is a 'cold room'. 

Love this new hobby I have taken up of wine making! Now have completed 3 kits.


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## sjzalew

*wine cellar*

I have a 13 x 21 ft. room under my house, in my crawl space, the celing is about 8 ft high, without any heat or A/C it stays about 60 deg F. all year. I'm going to put in a floor, and add cabinets, countertop, flooring, I'll build a wine rack for it. But for all of you that have been doing this a long time, what else should I think of instaling?


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## Wade E

You should throw a humidometer and watch that during the summer, you want it to stay around 70-75%. If it starts getting much higher then that youll get moldy corks. It will require a de humidifier!


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## sjzalew

That's a good idea Wade, I hadn't thought of that. I'm also putting in a sink. Another question? Should I have another area at a different temp. for storage?


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## arcticsid

*Avoid this!*

If you insist on building a wine cellar take the wife on vacation and have the work done while you are away.

Then get the wife a few glasses of wine before you tell her whats going on.

Sorry, I can't publish the pictures of what happened when they got home!

She tought it was funny when he described it to her, till they got home and she realized he was serious!

I think him and the dog are still arguing about the tv remote out in the dog house!

Troy


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## sjzalew

I take her on enough damn vacations..LOL...We just got back from Costa Rica, this spring we go to Caymen Islands and in the fall we go to the Tetons. 
Besides, I'm really not spending that much money, I'm doing it all myself. I calculated about $ 1200 for everything. the only thing I may have to do is hire a plummer.


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## arcticsid

So.. "Charlie" and the little lady come back from vacation and he calls his contractor.

It goes somethign like this. " Yeah Joe, excellent job on the cellar!! Jill is fine with it, shes a little angry we cant go somewhere warm for the winter, but she will get over the cost, ..........KAH-WANG!!!!!!!!!!

LOL


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## arcticsid

SJ you may be looking for a plumber if she finds out you would rather have a cellar than taking her on a vacation!! ROTF. LOL


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## padre

I have yet to figure out how I'm going to manage storage.

No basement, garage temps fluctuate WILDLY, and the whole place is on central heating/air (generally hovering somewhere around 72F).

The (frelling huge) walk-in closet in the master suite has no vents, and I have no spouse, so maybe I can find some way to regulate the temp down in there & use it.

We don't have problems like power outages here, because everything's underground.

Just don't know....


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## Wade E

As long as you have stable temps in a room thats what really matters!


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## padre

I can definitely keep just about any part of my bachelor living space from varying more than 5 degreees F during the course of a typical 24-hour period, even during fairly dramatic seasonal shifts.


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## Wade E

You should be fine then as long as you dont become unrealistic and think you can store a bottle of wine for 20 years and expect it to be great, although that can happen depending on the wine and corks used. I seen people store a bottle of wine in their locker at work for 3 years and this place does not stay temp controlled and we opened just for a laugh and it was very good.


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## padre

I'm far more interested in making some of the wines I already know I like to drink... and then drinking them. More exotic treats may be readily obtained at a local shop.

But 6 gallon batches and any sense of variety will call for some stashing.


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## Rock

These are a few pictures of my cellar i share with my brother who is a veteran wine maker.


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## Runningwolf

Rock, very Nice!


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## Dufresne11

*Wow*

Nice cellar Rock! I just finished expanding a closet in my finished basement that will store about 5 or 6 carboys and 50 - - 70 bottles.... pics to come


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## Rock

Left to right these are all 30 gallon barrels french oak except the last one.
2008 cab/merlot/syrah,next 2009 paso robles cab/merlot,2009 contra costa cab/merlot/malbec,2009 chilean merlot/malbec,2009 chalkhill cab/merlot/cabfranc,and the baby in the corner is a 13.5gallon american oak 2009 merlot/syrah from paso robles.


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## padre

Impressive.


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## Wade E

Its about time I got to see that cellar!!!!!!!!!!


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## Chateau Joe

Wow Rock, that is awesome!


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## Chateau Joe

Here is a pic that I took last fall. Right now I have a small corner of the cellar but I will be expanding shortly.


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## Rock

Very nice set up.also love the xmas lights.


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## Wade E

Christmas in the Fall!


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## djrockinsteve

Wade, I love your wine cellar. I use my daughter's former basement bedroom. It's got plenty of room and is on the outside corner so it's plenty cold during the winter and air cond. in the summer.

Are those strips on your carboys temperature strips? Your photos gave me ideas. Guess now I have something to do tomorrow.

Thanks


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## Wade E

Yes they are temp strips and are self adhesive and work well. Always glad to be of help but all those ideas are patented!


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## gregmg

Here in Arizona basements are almost unheard of, and if you're lucky enough to have one, you'll still need supplemental A/C running through most of the year to keep the basement cool enough for long term wine storage. When someone talks about their "wine cellar" here, what they are really talking about is a wine cooler or refrigerator of some type.

My wine cellar is comprised of three ~50 bottle wine coolers, along with a refrigerator set to the highest possible temperature, and a freezer set to 61 degrees via an external thermostat. This provides storage for roughly 250 bottles, a small oak barrel, and several carboys.

Room temperature in central Arizona hovers around 78 degrees for much of the year in most homes. This is just too warm for long term storage of most wines. In my experience, lighter, fruity wines can be noticeably over-the-hill after as little as 6 months when stored at room temperature.


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## AlFulchino

the first pic is a wine cellar a built 4 yrs ago...the second is our first winery building (small) but its now licensed...built this past summer and fall


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## Runningwolf

Al, I like the new building it looks really good. I didn't see any wine though in the cellar


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## AlFulchino

well actually ...now,the wine cellar has lots of wine, thankfully... but back then there was probably about two hundred bottles..anyways its in the basement....you can have a meal down there....kind of nice


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## Wade E

A meal in your cellar sounds great! Al, I never asked nor did I ever notice. I tried that magnicant blend oy yours, How many other wines did you make besides that one and did those change this year? Cany wait till your up and running as i may just have to make the drive up there and visit you! Maybe Ill even get a discount!


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## AlFulchino

you know the old saying Wade...i will give you the nickle tour  just dont exect much..i did EVERYTHING on BUDGET and trying to do all the work the first two yrs by only myself was not easy...if anyone else is reading this...dont try to plant 1400 vines in one yr by yourself...dont try to weed it yourself..spray yourself ect etc etc if you also have other work
i have mistakes to correct...chief among them i need more posts in my trellis system

having said that..i would not trade what i did for anything...but also my body could not do it again 

*****

we made three Signature Blends...all related.....each has a different personality...one is light, bright and lively..even spice so i gave it the name Vivace.....a second is silky and live liquid velvet on the mouth...i call it Mirabella...which also happens to be a town from which some of my female relatives are from...a third will sort of be our centerpiece of the Signature Blend Trilogy...its is called Cenare which means and is for that important dinner from banquet to formal dinner and to the small intimate dinner....more wines are going to be ready in the next 1-2 yrs as grape harvest pounds increase

a friend came over this afternoon w a Foch wine made here in NH...after lunch we went over to the winery and tasted mine as this is one of my varieties....mine i was happy to find even at this early stage was right there w the one my friend brought..except fruitier and more intense...trust me that comment is one of RELIEF...because when you work w a new grape you do worry about the end game....cripes a baby only takes 9 months....from plant date to first harvest is really 3-4 yrs...add another 1-2 for wine making...cripes 4-6 yrs! (you got me wound up) I know Rich is the same as me only w more experience..you worry if you are doing the right thing...it would be easier to grow corn!  esp after a bad winter.....foch is borderline at my place vis a vis winter kill...i did not harvest the size crop i had hoped to...but it is making a decent wine


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## Wade E

Thanks for the update on what you have going on.


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## contactme_11

Updates on this year?


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## Tom

Well for me its always the same or more. Somewhere over 1500 bottles would be safe. I always have wine fermenting/aging all year (look at my signature).


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## Runningwolf

I am over 800 bottles and chalk full even after the big party this weekend. Just bottled 13 gallons and have about ten carboys full. Two more kits arrived from George today and heading up to Walkers on Thursday. HELP ME, I am obsessed and can't help myself. My only salvation is I look at Tom then think 'Oh I'm not so bad"!


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