Home improvement ideas: Building a wine cellar
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We Australians love our wine, and one of the most rewarding home improvement projects to do is to build yourself a wine cellar. More than just something that adds value to your home, it's also a project that helps you keep your investment in wine safe and sound - in the best possible environment. So what's involved in building a wine cellar?
So what's involved in building a wine cellar?
Location
You're looking for a cool spot that isn't subject to vibrations, and isn't too dry. Good ideas for locating your wine cellar are under the stairs, in a laundry, under the house, or even in the earth beneath the ground. Heat is what you're looking to avoid, so preferably well inside the house instead of against an outside wall.
Your wine cellar should be between 10 and 20 degrees celsius, and consistently. The consistency of the temperature is more important than the degrees Celsius though, because drastic changes in temperature cause the cork to expand and contract, so causing oxidisation. Wine that's exposed to temperatures of more than 24 degrees has an increased chance of spoiling.
Some moisture (target humidity of 70%) and low light is important.
How is your wine meant to be stored?
On it's side. It's less important to store screw cap wine on it's side but you don't damage the wine by doing so (so you don't need a combination of storage styles).
Options for cellars
You can build your cellar out of many different materials - wooden shelving, metal shelving, natural cooling or refrigeration, humidifiers, etc. Depending on what you're looking for, you may need a builder (for a cellar that you'll need to excavate for), a carpenter (for a cupboard style cellar) or a refrigeration technician (for an electrically cooled environment).
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How about a wine bunker? I've never seen one in Aus but they must be there. While you're there you can drink your wine!
over a year ago by WineNut
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