Wine is something we absolutely love! My personal favorites are Champagne and Rhone blends. So you can imagine how much we enjoy projects of building custom wine cellars for our clients across DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland! There are lots of wine enthusiasts in this area and not always a ton of space to create spaces for their collections. Thus, we have to get creative based on what kind of wine they’re storing, what options they have for placement within their home, and the technologies (if any) needed to create an ideal space for aging the wines!

Wine Cellar with Tasting Table

In this blog, we’ll walk through the four things you’ll want to consider before you embark on the wonderful journey of creating a long term home for your wines. 

The Size of Your Wine Collection

Starting with the wine itself, we not only want to consider how many bottles you have now, but how many you plan on having over time. Other things to consider are the length of time you plan to age the majority of your wines. Some good questions to ask yourself are:

1. Are these wines long-term investments or inheritance? Ex. Bordeaux and Dessert wines that can last for many decades
2. Do I have different kinds of wines that I want to save for 1, 5, 10, and 50 years?
3. Are you actively adding to your collection? If so, how many cases are you planning to add over the next 10 years? (Better to over assume than under, as we want to have a home for every bottle!)

These questions should help set the stage for your long-term plans for these wines and ensure that you chose the right location and layout to accommodate the amount and function for your bottles.

Wine Cellar that Has Full Barrels

The Layout of Your Home

Now that we know your estimated number of bottles over the next 10 years, let’s discuss where you can put this room. The ideal location is a cellar, meaning underground, where the temperature will fluctuate less, the light won’t penetrate the bottles and they’re away from the prying eyes of house guests who might want to open something (slightly kidding about the last comment!)

If you don’t have a basement space or it’s not possible to use, the same rules apply. We’ll want to find a space that can fit the bottles, laying sideways, and as accessible as you need them to be. For example, if you have some bottles that you’re laying away for decades, they can be tucked far away or up high, vs the bottles you want to enjoy within the next year should have an easier location to view and access!

Some common places we find people placing cellars outside the basement include: under the main staircase, off of the kitchen pantry, off of the main bedroom, or integrated into a living space.

The Climate of Your Home

As we mentioned before, wines want to have a dark, temperature steady, humid place to call home. The ideal temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 percent humidity which is obviously colder and more humid than your typical house.

If you do have a cellar space underground, you can sometimes get away with leaving the wines naturally in their space. However, this area is still really the South, and even with cellar conditions under homes, it’s very common to see temperature swings in the summer above the desired consistent 55. Our fix for this is to use small interior units that can keep the temperature and the humidity of the room consistent. 

Your Personal Style and Function

Finally, on to the most fun part! Your collection is a personal thing and a reflection of your taste as a wine connoisseur. We believe your cellar space should feel just as personal. Anyone can put in wine racks in a room, but where is the fun and finesse in that? I like to talk with my clients about what they love about their wines, why they buy what they buy and build off of that. 

Are you obsessed with Sauternes and dessert wines? We can highlight that with shelves that better suit those bottles and potentially a tasting area that displays your favorite glassware alongside it. Do you love Napa Cabernet and have beautiful boxes or other pieces from your trips? These are perfect things to integrate into the design.

Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo

The way we work on these projects is to decide on the location, have our custom craftsmen measure all the spaces and start building out the space that works for you.

Conclusion

And there you have it! From start to finish, this is how we like to take on wine cellar projects and hope we’ve inspired you to start thinking about where you want to store your bottles or, if you haven’t started yet, about what collection you would like to build! If you’re storing your wines off-site and want to bring them home, we’re happy to come out and discuss the best ways to accomplish this. Just fill out our Contact Form and we’ll be in touch!