Lame wine cellar!!

[roadpupp]

I have been thinking about a wine cellar since I moved into this house 5 years ago. Starting to make my own wine has accelerated those thoughts!

There used to be a Bilco door to the backyard but since an addition went in back in the 70's it is now a closet that leads to a crawl space under my family room.

The shallow shelves in there have hay baling twine stapled to them in spacing that seems made for wine bottles. The wine bottles sit there but seem precariously perched and the clearance between two bottles is only about 18" ,hardly enough for me to get through to the back without knocking things off. It seems like the shelves were built for canning or tool storage but then the twine was added. A pamphlet for wine racks was sitting on top of them! Not a sturdy solution.

I doubt it stays too stable in there. I would guess in the summer it gets warm but will have to check.

What do you guys think of me building a header piece that could sit on top and then be lifted off and shoved forward into the crawl space in the rare case I needed to get to the crawl space? I haven't needed access in the 5 years I have lived here.

The space is not very wide but it looks like I can get two diamond racks on the back wall and one side wall of standard racks. This could be around 400 bottles of storage.

The space is 44" wide x 67" deep. The concrete foundation goes up to 72" but the underside of the floor joists above are another 22" above that. Picture an inverted box with 12" high sides. This would allow me to clad the backside in insulation.

I am not sure there is room above the low height door for a vinotemp or other type of cooler but I could always duct it in. Seems like with all that sub terrainean concrete (4 sides) and an insulated ceiling and door, I might be able to get away with not buying a cooler.

Otherwise, this is unused space. My basement doesn't have a lot of extra room and I'm working on turning my woodworking shop into a wine making shop.

Thoughts? I appreciate the input from those who have wrestled with these issues before.

Having issues posting photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62660939@N03/7011638827

I don't know if that will work.

Thanks

 

[Coldone]

Oooph.. Wife and I both agreed.. Bottle hanging out that much would make us both a little nervous... Especially with our kids wandering around. Would hate to bump into something in there and knock out one of the special bottle we were saving.. I say we alot but I mean me mainly

 

[roadpupp]

Coldone-

Yes. I agree. I think my first construction project will be to build a removable "roof" in there and put a bulk diamond rack on the back wall and ONE side wall of standard depth racks. This could give me around 400 bottles. Not a sexy cellar, but I know it would stay cool and dark and would treat my longer storage wines well.

 

[jswordy]

I've got a "root cellar" that was dug into my crawlspace when the house was built in 1933. Door opens to outside like a storm cellar. It is about the same size as yours, but open to the entire crawlspace on top. I think you will be surprised how cool it stays in there. It will be 70-75 degrees in my crawlspace root cellar when it is 95 outside. Still trying to envision what the shelves will be like in there when I get around to it.

AFTER LOOKING AT PIC: I would vote no on the twine. I'm a farmer, and once that stuff dry rots, it will let go all of a sudden. How about finishing the shelf fronts with notched 1 x 3s or some such arrangement? They would better support the bottles. If you want the vertical dividers, you could use 1 x 2 furring strips for more separation or even aluminized wire.

 

[Deezil]

Looking at the pic, with the space around the bottles the way the shelves are now.. I would rebuild it completely. You could probably fit 3 bottles on top of eachother in the same space as two of those rows - an extra row = more storage

And i'd atleast build it deep enough to reach the shoulders of the bottles. If you did bump them then, atleast most of the weight would be supported by / be inside the shelving itself. That chair ( ? ) would still fit down there when i was done, but maybe just barely.

 

[SpoiledRotten]

With a large portion of the bottle sticking out past the shelf, that would scare me to death to walk through the middle, in fear of brushing them with my body parts, thus causing no telling what to happen.

 

[roadpupp]

Thanks guys.

I'm going to rip the shelves down. Then build a removable insulated roof that will lift up and slide forward into the crawl space and then build the diiamond racks out of plywood. If budget an wife allow, I would like to buy a 180 bottle rack for one side of the long wall.