S o you’re up and ready to face the challenge of creating a luxurious wine cellar. Needless to say, you’ll need to take into consideration several very essential factors. Just because you have the available space in your home and the right budget doesn’t mean you should forge on ahead without some advance planning. A luxury wine cellar can be considered an ambitious investment, so do it wisely. Here are some of the more useful steps to get you started!
1. First off, consider how many bottles you need storage for.
You may have all that available space for your wine cellar, but the bigger question is how you can maximize the same. How many bottles should you allow for when planning out your project? Well basically, you’ll have to first consider how many bottles you consume in a year. Second, compute the average age of the bottles you have in your collection. For example, you consume 250 bottles in a year and your average bottle age is 5 years old. It’s a simple formula of multiplying the two together to get the approximate amount, in this case, of 1250 bottles. After that, add 15% for wine tasting buying sprees! For newbies, it’s also highly recommended to seek the assistance of experienced wine cellar design consultants, particularly if you are moving up from cases stacked in a closet or unrefrigerated racking to a dedicated climate controlled wine cellar.
2. Second, work out an appropriate budget.
Building a luxury wine cellar means you’ll be spending a considerable sum on the project. Let’s face it! It will definitely not come dirt-cheap. However, it also doesn’t mean that you have to spend an unreasonable amount. The most practical thing to do is to first work out a checklist of items and determine what is most and least important to you. That way, you can ensure that the selections you make are proportionate to your budget. Here is a short check list for you to prioritize what is most and least important to you.
| Material cellar is | Very Important | Somewhat Important | Not Important |
| Stain all materials | Very Important | Somewhat Important | Not Important |
| Lacquer on materials |
Very Important | Somewhat Important | Not Important |
| Wall finish | Paint | Tongue & Groove | Wood Paneling (Raised Panels) |
| Ceiling Finish | Paint | Tongue & Groove | Wood Paneling (Raised Panels) |
| Flooring | Cork | Hardwood | Tile, Barrel Flooring, or Other |
| Entry Door | Must match cellar material | Any exterior cellar door | Trim for Cellar Door |
| Refrigeration | None | Self Contained | Ductless Split or Installation |
| Lighting | Needs Professional Lighting | I have Lighting |
3. Third, think carefully where you should build it.
Actually, you can build a wine cellar anywhere in your home. But it’s also necessary to know the difference between a passive wine cellar as against a refrigerated one. Passive wine cellars use ground temperature to moderate the temperature swings and make the temperature swings seasonal instead of daily. On the other hand, refrigerated wine cellars can go anywhere in your house. So basically, you can only build a passive wine cellar in a subterranean basement. If you’re opting for a refrigerated one, you’ll need to invest in the most appropriate wine refrigeration system for your wine cellar layout.
4. Fourth, you’ll need to prepare the room properly.
Again, this is not just a simple matter of designating the room and then putting in your wine racks. Indispensable elements such as the vapor barrier, installation of the refrigeration unit, choosing suitably insulated wine cellar doors, and assembling your wine racking system need to all come together. You’ll also need to wrap the walls and filling holes and consider the electrical outlet placement. You can do this yourself, but it’s really much better to have an experienced design specialist guide the way, especially if you’re a total newbie in the wine cellar construction biz.
5. Fifth, you’ll now get to design your cellar!
This is perhaps the more exciting part of constructing a luxury wine cellar. However, there are still some technical considerations as well. For example, how tall would your racking assembly go? What wine racks will offer the most space-efficient storage capacity? What bottle sizes are you generally going to accommodate? Will you be storing lots in bulk or in bins and boxes as well? Are there uneven corners in your desired location? Then you’ll need the right curved and corner racks for those. You’ll also have to weigh style against function and find the proper balance in between.
6. Lastly, you’ll have to select the right wood.
There are so many species of wood to choose from for your wine cellar project. But since we’re talking about a “luxury” one, then you’ll need to carefully review the characteristics of your wine cellar wood choices. You can start by checking out our top choices for custom wine cellars: All-Heart Redwood, Premium Redwood, or Prime Mahogany. The categories to be on the lookout for are wood durability, resiliency, cost-efficiency, and grain patterns. If you want to stain your wood, don’t forget to review how the grain patterns would show up against the same as well as the color variations that you can get from the wood.
Last but not the least, always keep in mind that true luxury lies in creating an elegant feel to your wine cellar.
