How To Build a Wine Cellar

July 29, 2016 – Anyone serious about collecting wine is eventually faced with a major dilemma:  Where-To-Store-It.  Unless you maintain your home at a constant 55 degrees, a closet in your house or under the bed really isn’t going to cut it.  Nor will suggestions we’ve seen for shelving above the stove.  Not a great spot since heat is one of the fastest ways to spoil wine.  It was an idea from someone who knows nothing about wine!  In fact anywhere in the kitchen is an awful place to store wine.  Other undesirable elements to avoid are light and vibration.

Wine fridges, either under the counter or free standing do an excellent job but if your goal is one thousand bottles or more, you might want to consider burrowing under the earth or adding a free standing cellar style unit in your back yard.  We recently heard from Versatile Tanks in Australia and while they do not operate in North America, their ideas are so interesting and they offer so much information that we know you’ll enjoy browsing their web site and maybe you’ll find a solution you hadn’t considered before.

As the name implies, Versatile Tanks supplies pre-caste, seamless, concrete tanks for many different uses such as water storage, dangerous goods, fire shelters, detention tanks – no, they are not people but rather to capture rain run off.  You can read about them on the web site.  But their “fun-est” program and cleverest idea is supplying tanks that convert into wine cellars.

They offer two modules, one square and the other rectangle and they include suggestions and instructions on how to trick them out to accomplish storage and entertaining.  The infographic is a good place to start and we’re giving you the link for a better view. http://www.versatiletanks.com.au/build-wine-cellar/

A concrete tank offers options for placement.  If above ground, it can be fitted with a door so that it becomes a walk-in room and could be incorporated into an existing room, with the right engineering.  Underground requires a trap door and a set of stairs that certainly creates the allure of entering a special place.  Above ground or underground, either way the cachet depends on interior finish, especially if you want to incorporate a tasting area.  Versatile Tanks has gathered a collection of wine cellar ideas that all have the Wow! factor. Check out “The World’s Best Wine Cellars:  The Weird, the Wonderful and the Wacky”, and swoon.

http://www.versatiletanks.com.au/worlds-best-wine-cellars/

Good luck with your dream and don’t forget a wine cellar improves property values.