It’s summer and just about anywhere you go now, it’s HOT! And if it’s hot for you, it’s even worse for your wine. My previous article on Wine Storage said that temperature is the single most important factor in storing your wine. These soaring temperatures are a good reminder for you to get that wine cellar started. If you’re thinking of creating your own wine cellar, then you’ve probably read our previous series of articles on Custom Cellars, and if you haven’t, you should. In those articles, I talk about the most important component of your wine cellar…well, aside from the wine, of course. It’s your cooling unit.

IWA offers many cooling units, so many, in fact, that it could be difficult to decide which one to get. Well, set aside those anxieties; I’m here to help. First let’s categorize them. It’s easy to sort them by price online if you’re on a tight budget and cost is the most important factor. Or you could sort by the size of your cellar and narrow things down that way. But what about arranging them by Good, Better & Best. You know that if you go and buy a car, you’re going to have a different experience with owning a Chevy versus a Toyota versus a Mercedes. Each car manufacturer has different prices, levels of service, quality, reliability and overall satisfaction. The same can be said for wine cooling units.

Good

If your needs are pretty basic, your budget is tight and the space you’re cooling is small, then the Koolspace units are the answer. It’s no frills, basic cooling that is quiet, small and energy efficient. So small in fact, that you could easily mount this in the space above the cellar door.

Koolspace koolR

Better

The next step up are the Breezaire units. These units are great if you have a larger space, or desire a split system that separates the evaporator from the condensor, without costing more than your wine collection.

Breezaire

Best

These manufacturers are the top-of-the-line in terms of reliability, customer service and overall satisfaction. They’ll service from small cabinet sized cellars all the way up to large room-sized cellars as well as those wine cellars in extreme conditions. They’re also some of the quietest and most energy efficient units around. Plus, these units have the bells and whistles you want with some optional accessories available including probes, remote displays and controls, and outside condenser housings. They’re listed here by the size space they can cool, from small to large.

CellarPro

WhisperKool

VinoChiller

Call Us

You don’t have to make this decision on your own. We’re here to help every step of the way. Give our cellar consultants a call at 800-527-4072 and they can help you find the perfect cooling unit for your cellar, plus helpful advice for your installation.

We get a lot of questions from our customers about wine storage, and while we’re always happy to answer all your wine storage questions, some questions fall into that FAQ (frequently asked question) category and deserved to have their own blog post. Here are some FAQ’s that our sales consultants often hear:

Q: What are the ideal conditions to properly store my wine collection?

A: There are three issues that will affect the proper storage of wine: light, temperature and humidity. UV rays from light will damage wine by breaking down the organic compounds in wine that contribute to its aroma, flavor and overall structure. An ideal location should be dark. Humidity is a consideration because of the corks used in sealing wine bottles. A relative humdity of 60% – 70% is ideal. Low humidity can lead to failures in the cork seal and then the low humidity condition would cause faster evaporation of the wine. Assuming we can find a dark place with sufficient humidity, temperature is the most important factor in properly storing wine. A cool stable temperature keeps wine from aging too rapidly and preserves its characteristics. Most European wine caves have a naturally occurring temperature of about 13º Celsius or about 55º Fahrenheit with about ±1º fluctuation. Since wine has been historically stored at this temperature with great success, 55ºF is the ideal temperature most experts agree on.

Q: What happens if I store my wine at room temperature?

A: Quite simply, it will age faster with unpredictable results. As wine sits in a bottle, a chemical change is occurring with the compounds in the wine. This change is natural and over time alters the aromas and flavors in a wine. This change is what makes wine a living thing and continues to make it interesting year after year. If we were to give a value to the rate of change in a wine, where a factor of 1.0 equals the change in wine stored at the ideal temperature, then wine stored between 55ºF to 59ºF would change at a rate of about 1.2 to 1.5. If you stored your wine at a room temperature of about 73ºF, it would change at a rate of 2.1 to 8.0. What do all these numbers mean? Well, if you store your wine at 59ºF, after 4 years your wine will have aged the equivalent of wine stored at 55ºF for 6 years. That same wine stored at 73ºF for 4 years will have aged the equivalent of wine stored at 55ºF for 8 years to as much as 32 years! 8 times faster than wine stored at the ideal temperature. And for comparison, wine stored at over 91ºF will change at a rate of over 56. That means that a wine stored for just 3 months at 91ºF will age the equivalent of wine stored at 55ºF for 14 years! That’s a significant change in the span of what amounts to one summer in Texas. If you have a small collection and you generally consume your red wine within a year or two, keeping your wine in a cool dark closet should be fine.

Q: If 55ºF is a good temperature for wine, wouldn’t 40ºF be even better?

A: Not necessarily. 40ºF is the typical temperature of a household refrigerator. Just as higher temperatures increase the rate of change in a wine’s characteristics, a lower temperature would decrease that change. Many winemakers will tell you that bottle aging will improve many wines and often recommend waiting a few years for tannins to soften and flavors to open up. If you store a wine too cold, that change may never occur. As said previously, storing wine in a bottle produces chemical changes. At 55ºF, these changes occur in a well-orchestrated manner and historically produces desirable results. However, at 40ºF, some chemical changes are slowed to the point where they effectively don’t happen while other chemical changes will still occur. The changes in the wine are now unbalanced or out-of-sync and could produce undesirable aromas and flavors. Therefore, it’s probably best to store wine in a cellar and not in a refrigerator.

Q: Can’t I just put a cooling unit in my room or closet to keep my wine cool?

A: No. Since the room will be cooled to 55º-59ºF it needs to be properly insulated and have an adequate vapor barrier installed. A vapor barrier is an often misunderstood yet important component to a wine room and as a result is often omitted or installed incorrectly. The vapor barrier performs three major functions in a wine cellar: 1) it protects the structure and insulation from condensation damage, 2) it prevents air leakage, and 3) maintains proper humidity levels inside the room. In order for a vapor barrier to work properly, it must be installed on the warm side of the insulation. This is because condensation occurs as water vapor moves from the warm side of the wall to the cold side. If a vapor barrier is installed on the cold side, it traps moisture inside the envelope, making moisture problems worse and possibly causing wood rot in the supporting structure.

Q: Don’t the wine bottles need to be on their side because the corks need to stay wet?

A: Not really. Recent studies have shown that Champagne is best stored upright and another study that was conducted on still wine over a 2 year period showed there was virtually no negative effect to the wine. No study has been done beyond 2 years so for long term storage it’s best to have them lying down, but this study shows that there is more of a gray area than some people have been led to believe.

Is there a question I didn’t cover? Feel free to give one of our knowledgeable sales consultants a call at (800) 527-4072 to get your questions answered. Or become our fan on Facebook and ask us your question online.

We love our customers and they love us right back. Our customers, Mike & Nancy Hall, talk about their enjoyable experience designing a custom wine cellar with IWA. The Halls had an existing cellar that just didn’t match the way they collected and stored their wine. They called IWA, we listened to their needs and designed a cellar that was all about them.

All of our IWA wine cellar consultants are prepared with the most up-to-date information in regards to your cooling unit and wine storage needs. They’ll help you design a wine cellar specifically for your needs. Give them a call at (800) 527-4072 to discuss your cellar project.

It’s 70 degrees outside and rising.
Do you know where your wines are?

With spring here and summer coming up fast, the temperatures will start to climb. One of an aging wine’s worst enemies is temperature, specifically, fluctuating temperatures. Arguably, the single most important element of your wine cellar is the cooling unit.

If you have a wine cellar, are you sure the cooling unit is working properly and keeping your wine at a steady cellar temperature? Is your cooling unit running constantly? Are you sure it’s adequate for your needs? And is it energy efficient?

If you don’t have a wine cellar, now is a great time to start protecting your wine investment. Whether you have a small or large collection, you have a substantial investment in wine. Our professional wine cellar consultants here at IWA have a combined 28 years experience in designing cellars for 100 to 10,000 bottles and have the most up-to-date information on the latest cooling units and wine storage.

IWA knows the importance of storing wine properly—we’ve been creating wine storage solutions for more than 25 years. Our consultants have the experience, expertise and enthusiasm to help you personally choose the wine storage solution that meets your budget, style and capacity considerations, now and into the future.

Nadia Esquedan
3 years

Bronson Buckman
6 years

Bruce Bennett
8 years

Bryan Adams
11 years

Here are a few great examples of custom wine cellars. If you’re looking for some practical tips, be sure to check out the other article in this series, Custom Wine Cellar – Step-by-Step.

A Great Closet Conversion

Barry Southard is a man of many talents. Besides throwing pottery, baking and planting a vineyard (as if that isn’t enough), Barry is pretty handy around the house and converted a very unusual small closet space under the stairs of his house into a beautiful wine cellar that not only preserves his wines, but showcases them in grand style. Not only did he have to work around providing access to crawl spaces leftover from the original closet, he also had to deal with the unusual angles under the stairs. Here’s a few before and after photos of his wine cellar.

Ron Gaffe’s Fabulous Wine Room

Ron’s wife gave him a wonderful birthday gift—a wine room with storage, seating for four and a lockable door. She ordered the racks from IWA and found some terrific old doors at an architectural warehouse. One was cut down the middle for a base for the wine racks and the other placed on higher legs for a counter to open and serve wine. The walls of the room are finished in a copper-toned Venetian plaster, making the room cozy and warm. These photos show that you don’t need to spend a fortune to have a wonderful spot to store and serve wine.

This is one of the example cellars that we'll look at in detail next week.

So you’ve decided to convert that spare closet into a wine cellar. Great decision, but now what will it take to do this? Let’s break the project down into three steps.

Select a Cooling Unit

You’ll need to do this first because the rough opening in your cellar will depend on the size of your cooling unit. We offer many styles and sizes of cooling units from small units for a cabinet or small closet to large units for larger wine rooms. Here are some tips to help you select the right cooling unit:

• Measure your cellar space and multiply the height × width × depth of the space to compute the cubic feet that the cooling unit will need to chill.
• If the amount of space is near the maximum cubic ft. of the unit you’ve selected, you should select the next size larger.
• If you live in an extremely hot or humid climate or your cellar is located where exterior walls receive direct sunlight, you may also want to consider the next larger size.
• Your cooling unit should be positioned at a location within 12″ of the top of your space that will allow adequate air circulation throughout your cellar.
• Cooling units need to vent to another room that has adequate ventilation or if you live in a mild climate you can vent through an outside wall.
• Most of our cooling units run very quietly, but if you want nearly silent operation, you may wish to consider one of our split systems.

Prepare the Space

To convert your spare closet into a wine cellar, you must first prepare the space to maintain the proper humidity and temperature. If you’re handy with remodeling projects, you can do this yourself.

• Remove the sheetrock from the inside walls and ceiling of the closet. Remove any carpet or floor covering.
• Rough out the opening for the cooling unit. Most units will fit within standard wall stud spacing. Install adequate framing to hold the weight of the unit.
• Provide 110 volt, 15 amp dedicated electrical circuit for the cooling unit.
• Install a 6 mil plastic vapor barrier on the walls, ceiling and floor. If necessary wrap the vapor barrier around the stud framing leaving space for insulation.
• Insert R13 insulation between the studs for interior walls. Use R19 insulation for exterior walls and ceiling. If the ceiling is directly under the roof, R30 insulation is recommended. When finished, the insulation should be inside of the vapor barrier.
• Finish the walls with moisture resistant greenboard and PVA paint. Alternatively, you can finish the walls with cedar or redwood paneling.
• Install flooring. You can use vinyl, tile, slate or marble. Do not use carpeting in a cellar because the humidity will encourage mold growth.
• Install low-voltage or fluorescent lighting on a timer so that lights do not stay on for long periods of time and heat your cellar. If recessed can lights are used, be sure the integrity of the vapor barrier is maintained.
• Hang an exterior grade door with full weatherstripping and a door sweep.
• Install the cooling unit and plug it in.

Choose Your Racking

We have many styles of racking available to suit your tastes and budget. Call one of our IWA consultants to order custom racking or to create a 2D or 3D plan of your cellar. The cost of any 3D plan will be applied to your racking order. Or you can choose to do it yourself with our easy to assemble kits. When buying racking, here are few things you should consider:

• What kind of bottles will your cellar hold? Large format bottles and wood cases need different storage than standard 750ml. bottles.
• Will your cellar be purely functional or will it be used to showcase your wine collection? Display racks show off your wine but do not use the space efficiently.
• Accessories such as glassware racks and serving tables are nice additions, but a wine cellar is cold, so don’t expect to spend a lot of time inside your cellar.
• The kind of material and finish you choose will depend on the style and color scheme of your cellar and will determine the cost and capacity of the racking.
• Vintage View metal display racks are unique and show off the labels, but will not have the same capacity as a wood rack.
• Wood rack kits can be made of poplar, oak, redwood or mahogany and can be unfinished, or finished and stained in various colors.
• Custom racking can also be made from exotic woods such as black walnut, cherry, maple or purple heart to enhance the visual appeal of your cellar.

With a little planning and some help from one of our knowledgeable IWA consultants, you too will be on your way to having the wine cellar of your dreams. In our next post, we’ll show you one of our favorite cellar conversions along with some photos and stories from our customers.

At what point does someone go from being a wine drinker to a wine collector? When they decide to build a custom wine cellar. So why would you ever need a wine cellar? Does this sound familiar to you?

1. It’s the weekend, let’s visit some tasting rooms.
   
2. Mmm, I really like this wine.
   
3. Let’s get a case of it.
4. I’m joining their wine club.
5. Drive to the next place.
6. Repeat 2 – 5.
7. Next free weekend, repeat 1 – 6.

Do that a few times and pretty soon that standalone wine cellar is full and you’re stacking boxes of wine in the garage. Well, at least until summer arrives. Then what? You don’t want all that great wine to go bad from the heat of summer, do you? Which is why now, in the dead of winter, is a great time to start planning for your built-in cellar to have it ready by this spring.

A built-in cellar can be as elaborate as converting the entire basement, to as straightforward as converting a closet or pantry. Since I’m at that point of having repeated the above steps 1 – 6 several times and have boxes of wine in the garage, I started doing a little research for my own cellar and found a great resource right here at work.

Jim V. works here as one of our Wine Consultants. Like all of our wine consultants, he’s an expert on wine cellars, racking systems and cooling units. But Jim has taken his knowledge a step further by building his own wine building. This is beyond just a cellar. Jim actually built an insulated temperature-controlled wine storage building in his backyard. Wow! Now that’s someone who loves his wine. Click on his photos of the construction and the finished cellar to see a larger image.

Doesn’t that just inspire you to start your own custom wine cellar? Your cellar doesn’t have to be this large or elaborate. In part 2, I’ll show you a cellar made from an existing space along with an overview of planning your own cellar and what you’ll need to consider.

If you have pictures of a cellar project or would like to share your experiences, leave us a comment or shoot us an email with your photos.

I’m talking wine cellar racks and cooling units. Why, what did you think I was talking about? I know that around this time of the year everyone’s attention is focused on gifts for the holidays. But have you considered giving a wine cellar for a gift? I know I would be thrilled to get something as simple as this in a card for Christmas:

Although it doesn’t seem like much, for me, it means I would have my wife’s blessing to actually convert that old pantry space into a real climate-controlled wine cellar. While I’m at it, let’s consider what having a wine cellar means.

Aside from having a space to store wines that you want to save and drink later, a wine cellar is a serious statement of your appreciation of wine. After all, you’ve now devoted a special place in your home just to store it properly. If you’re like me, storage is a premium in my house and making the decision to convert usable storage space to a space just for wine means needing to rearrange or donate things that were kept there before. It’s not as bad as it sounds and it really is worth it.

A built-in cellar also elevates your home’s status, even if it’s a double-wide prefab home. (Don’t laugh, I’ve heard of people who have done it.) Today, lots of custom-built homes include a built-in wine cellar as a feature. Converting a closet, pantry or space in the basement of your current home to a wine cellar lends a bit of elegance and sophistication normally found only in custom homes. Plus, it prevents baldness, um, highly unlikely; helps you lose weight, doubtful; is tax-deductible, possibly illegal; will add to the value of your home, definitely. That much I’m sure of.

So you see, there are many great reasons to consider a wine cellar for a gift. It’s not as crazy as it initially sounds. IWA has lots of options for your cellar, from small freestanding cellars to custom racking and cooling units for an entire room. To give you a little inspiration, in our next installment on this subject, I’ll show you how, Jim, one of our own wine consultants built a custom cellar literally from the ground up.