Wine Cellar Opinions Needed

[mrramsey]

One down 26 more to go... and the open bottle was just for reference.

I routed a double vee grove on the face of the horizontal rails. I thought it was fitting since the rest of the rack's edges have a 1/8" chamfer.

As a note for anyone building similar racks I am spacing the vertical at 3-1/2", the bottle rungs are 3-1/8". This will accommodate all sizes of bottles with the exception of Champagne and Turley's.

The CellarPro 1800QT is on it's way and should arrive next week.

 

[Boatboy24]

Looks fantastic. But you are way above my pay grade (and patience).

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[sdelli]

Impressive! Making your own wine racks! I bought mine and thought staining them was a job!

 

[JohnT]

I grew up around woodworking (my dad was a pro and we had a woodshop behind our house). With that in mind, I have to say that I am impressed! very nice work. Looks like it is a pleasure to build and a pleasure to enjoy!

Please keep the pictures coming! I can almost smell the pine sawdust.

 

[bkisel]

Oh man, I would be using that project as an excuse to get another dozen or so clamps.

Very nice work BTW.

 

[Floandgary]

I grew up around woodworking (my dad was a pro and we had a woodshop behind our house). With that in mind, I have to say that I am impressed! very nice work. Looks like it is a pleasure to build and a pleasure to enjoy!

Please keep the pictures coming! I can almost smell the pine sawdust.

Wood worker, Body man (auto!), Chef, Winemaker, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,,,,,, All have that same creative inspiration

 

[mrramsey]

Well If I'm lucky I will have the first rack somewhat complete this weekend. Gotta leave for a few days this week though. I am enjoying the build almost as much as the wine.

 

[mrramsey]

Ok so I just read an interesting article on finishing. (wine racks specifically) The article recommends not to apply stains or finishes especially when the racks are going into an airtight climate controlled environment. The reason is that the odors and or gasses that are released can leach into the corks of the wine and potentially taint the wines flavors. I initially was going to just leave the racks raw and now this just confirms my decision. Though I suppose I could still use a water based stain and water based poly.

Taken from - https://wineracks.com/blog/2010/10/tips-tricks-for-wine-cellars-finishes-stains-and-species-oh-my/
"It is not recommended to keep any sort of stained racks in an airtight, enclosed environment like a climate-controlled wine cellar where you have to be concerned with odors. This can affect the flavor of your wine as the odors might seep in through the cork. If you have a small, enclosed space housing your wine racks than it is recommended to skip the finish all together."

 

[sdelli]

Me... I stained them. Looks much better! Did the walls too!

 

[mrramsey]

Things are going slow... Been real busy at work. I did assemble one rack and got the cooling unit installed. I'll post some pics later.

 

[Johnd]

Ok so I just read an interesting article on finishing. (wine racks specifically) The article recommends not to apply stains or finishes especially when the racks are going into an airtight climate controlled environment. The reason is that the odors and or gasses that are released can leach into the corks of the wine and potentially taint the wines flavors. I initially was going to just leave the racks raw and now this just confirms my decision. Though I suppose I could still use a water based stain and water based poly.

I also read the same article a while back. A little research and conversations with some of the big wine cellar racking producers (almost all offer stain and seal options) indicates that it is indeed ok to stain and seal racks, even in enclosed environments, and can be quite beneficial in terms of appearance, longevity, and stain resistance of your racking. But you do need to choose your products correctly. Look for low VOC, water based products, stay away from oil based products. In todays world, there are tons of low VOC water based products out there.

 

[mrramsey]

I think a door would look more good, just an opinion as door will maintain the temp and also will look sophisticated according to the wine rack and also if there would be some transparent design on the door which will enhance the look of the house.

Man, you are a little late to the party and punctuation is your friend....

 

[JohnT]

Mike,

Any new progress? I am dying for a new pic!

 

[mrramsey]

Mike,

Any new progress? I am dying for a new pic!

Sorry been a busy few weeks at work.

 

[TXWineDuo]

Mike,
looks like a great wine rack but confused, is the picture skewed? It looks like there is too much space at the top and not enough at the bottom maybe for a port bottle?

TXWineDuo

 

[mrramsey]

There is trim that still needs to be installed on the front. I need to paint the walls before final assembly.

 

[sdelli]

I hope you decided to keep the finish natural and not staining it.... It is almost impossible to put a finish on it assy

 

[JohnT]

Can you post any new photos? Sorry to nag, it is just that this involves two of my favorite things... Wine and Woodworking... and I can't wait to see your progress...

 

[mrramsey]

Not too much new to post yet. Kind of stalled at the moment... wife had to have eye surgery, going through an acquisition at work. Been drinking plenty of wine though

I did get the second unit assembled. trying to get the third one done as time allows.

 

[mrramsey]

OK it's been a little wile since my last post. I've been super busy at work and haven't had time to work on the cellar much. Here is where we are.

The walls have been painted, all racking is built and installed, locks installed and the unit powered on for a 24 hour test.

I still have work to do on the rest of the basement but as it stands I can add stock at any time now. The cooling unit is working great so far. It took about 30 minutes to bring it down to 59 degrees and through the past 12 hours it seems to cycle about once every 2 hours for about 10 minutes. I am estimating my daily use cost to be about $.20 per day. Sorry the pics aren't better. The color is much darker and more red than in the pics.