More and more wineries are being established around the world, and wine collection is an increasingly popular hobby. Although more people are getting into the love for wine, not many know the proper way to store wine. Wine storage is an essential aspect of wine collection, because improper wine storage will ruin wines.
The Elements of Proper Wine Storage
Proper wine storage involves 3 main elements, and these are temperature, humidity and light. The ideal temperature for wine storage is anywhere between 53 and 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The ideal humidity inside a wine storage room should be approximately 70%. The light inside a wine storage room should not emit too much heat, because heat damages wines. Consistent fluctuations in temperature and humidity levels can also damage wines. There are various kinds of wine storage solutions. This article will discuss a few of the various kinds of wine storage systems.
The Various Wine Storage System Options
There are various wine storage system options that you can choose from. To help you decide on what storage system is most appropriate for you, you need to ask a few questions. First, how long will you be storing the wines. Will you be drinking it soon or after a few months? Second, what kinds of wines will you be storing? Are you storing reds, whites, or sparkling? Third, how many wine bottles do you intend to store? Are you planning to continue expanding your wine collection?
Basically, you need to identify not only your immediate wine storage needs, but also what your future wine storage needs might be. You may choose to have a custom wine cellar in California with modular wine racks so that you may start storing 6 bottles at first, and then slowly increase your wine collection to hundreds of wine bottles.
Custom Wine Racks in Orlando, California
Wine racks are a great choice for wine storage. Wine racks in California come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. Wooden wine racks in Orlando can be made from Pine, Redwood, Mahogany and other kinds of durable wood species. Wooden wine racks can come in rack style, grotto style and stack style, to accommodate more wine bottles than a six-bottle holder. Metal wine racks also come in a variety of options. Metal wine racks can be straight, slanted or designer style.
Wine Refrigeration Units
Refrigerated wine storage systems also come in a variety of options. There are table-top wine fridges that you can use for short term storages. There are also wine cellar cooling units that you can install into a custom wine cellar in Orlando, CA. Under-the-counter wine chillers that can hold 30 to 49 wine bottles are a very popular choice these days. You can have models that are compartmentalized. You can store various wines in varying temperatures in a single unit.
A beautifully made custom wine cellar in Orange County, California is the best resting place for your beloved wines. Since this is where you’ll be keeping your precious wine collection, it is important that you take into consideration each essential factor. A wine cellar has to be planned carefully before it is built. Here are the steps that you need to take when constructing a wine storage room:
1. Decide on How Many Bottles You Intend to Store
More important than having an available space for your wine cellar is how you can maximize it. It is important to consider how many bottles you plan to store in your wine storage room. Basically, you need to estimate how many wine bottles you consume every year. Then, calculate for the average age of the wines that you have now. Multiply these two values. For example, if you consume 300 bottles of wine in one year and the average age of the wines in your collection in 4 years old, then you intend to store 1200 wine bottles.
2. Plan Your Budget
It is a given that you need to spend a considerable amount of money when you have a custom wine cellar constructed. It won’t come cheap, but think of it as an investment because you will suffer greater loss if your wines are not stored properly. In order to come up with a reasonable budget for your wine cellar, you need to make a checklist of items needed in a wine cellar and identify which ones are most important to you and which ones you can forego.
3. Consider Carefully Where You Plan To Have The Wine Cellar Built
You can generally choose to have your residential wine cellar built anywhere in your house, but it is very important to consider first whether you want a passive wine cellar or a refrigerated one. Passive wine cellars utilize the temperature of the ground to manage the changes in temperature. These cellars make temperature changes not on a daily basis, but depending on what season it is. Thus, passive wine cellars need to be built in a subterranean basement. Refrigerated wine cellars, on the other hand, can be constructed anywhere in the house. All you need to think about is what wine cellar cooling system will be installed in it.
4. Prepare the Wine Storage Room Properly
There are many things that need to be done in order to prepare a custom wine cellar. You need to have a vapor barrier, a wine cellar refrigeration unit, a well-insulated wine cellar door and wine racks. Consult a wine cellar specialist to make sure that none of these are left out. These play a very important role in making sure that your cellar functions the way it should.
5. Design Your Residential Wine Cellar in Orange County
This is one of the most exciting parts of wine cellar construction. In this step, you will have to decide what type of wood you will use for your cellar, what type of racking will you have installed, what lighting you want inside and what paint color you want for your wine cellar room.
Wine cellar refrigeration systems are an essential part of wine storage. Here are a few basic things that you need to know about wine cellar cooling systems:
1. How Important is A Wine Cellar Cooling Unit?
Your residential wine cellar needs to have an efficient wine cellar cooling system installed. A regular, household air conditioning unit cannot provide the required conditions for wine preservation. Only wine cellar refrigeration units can provide the right temperature and humidity inside a custom wine cellar.
2. What are Wine Refrigerators For?
There are various kinds of wines and they need to be stored at differing, respective temperatures. Champagne and other types of bubbly wine need to be stored in a temperature of 43 to 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Red wines, generally, should be stored in 59 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Most white wines should be stored in 46 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Wine refrigerators are best for individual wine storage. Wine fridges installed inside your home wine cellar will allow you to chill these different types of wines at their appropriate storage temperatures.
3. How to Prepare a Wine Cellar Before Installing a Cooling Unit
The wine cellar refrigeration unit is the most important part of any custom wine cellar. It is important to understand that a wine cellar cooling unit should not be installed without first preparing the wine cellar properly. To ready a wine cellar for the installation of a cooling unit, make sure that the interior walls of the wine room are covered with at least R11 insulation. The outside of the walls should be covered with at least R19 insulation. The walls should also have a vapor barrier. Vapor barriers, also called moisture barriers, are made of polyethylene plastic sheeting. These are installed on the warm side of the cellar walls, to prevent condensation and mold formation.
The wine cellar flooring also needs to have vapor barriers. If your cellar floor is made of concrete, you need a vapor barrier with concrete sealant. All kinds of wine cellar flooring need a vapor barrier and R19 insulation.
The Different Kinds of Wine Cellar Refrigeration Units
a. Through the Wall Wine Cellar Cooling Unit – This is the type of cooling unit that is simply mounted on the cellar wall. The exhaust of this cooling system is released into an adjacent room. It is recommended that this adjacent room is air conditioned, so that the exhausted heat may be dissipated.
b. Ductless Split Cellar Cooling System – This cooling system is similar to the through-the-wall unit; the difference is that its evaporator coil remains in the room with a split cooling unit, while its condenser is in another room or outside the house. This type of cooling unit needs a drain for its excess condensation.
c. Ducted Wine Cellar Refrigeration Unit – You can opt to mount this kind of cooling system on your cellar wall or have it fully ducted into and out from the custom wine cellar and an adjacent room.
Storing wine is no easy task. The conditions required to store wine are very specific. The temperature cannot be not too warm, but also not too cold. The humidity of the wine storage room should be not too dry, but also not too wet. The good news for wine enthusiasts is that technology has made equipment available to us that can provide the right conditions for proper wine storage. Wine cellar cooling units are the key to allowing your wines to age tastefully as they are stored in a custom wine cellar in Los Angeles.
Learn more about wine storage by becoming knowledgeable on these wine cellar cooling unit facts:
FACT 1: BALANCED HUMIDITY
The ideal humidity for the proper storing of wines is between 60 to 70 percent. If the wine cellar room gets more humid than this, the wine bottle labels can get ruined by mold formation. If the humidity in the custom wine cellar goes below this range, the corks may dry out, and air will then seep into the bottle and ruin the wine.
One tip to keep in mind if you need to increase the relative humidity (RH) inside your residential wine cellar is to increase the FON setting on the control panel of your wine cellar cooling unit. CellarPro wine cellar cooling units have this option. You may also increase the fan speed on the cooling unit if your model has that option.
FACT 2: AVOID CONDENSATION
Ideally, your custom wine cellars in Los Angeles, CA should be built with an airtight seal. In order to achieve this, good insulation has to be installed, along with a moisture barrier. Without these, your wine cellar refrigeration system will create a ton of condensation.
One way you can minimize the amount of condensation on your evaporator coils is by increasing the FON setting of your wine cellar cooling unit. CellarPro units have this option. Condensation can also be reduced by increasing the fan speed of your cellar cooling unit. Selected CellarPro models have this option.
FACT 3: STORING TEMPERATURE VS. SERVING TEMPERATURE
The best serving temperature for wine is different than its storing temperature. Ideally, wine should be stored in a residential wine cellar in CA that has a temperature within 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Serving temperature, on the other hand, varies from one wine to another. Champagnes and other types of bubbly wines are best served at a temperature that is within 40 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit. White wines should be served at 45-49 degrees Fahrenheit. Red wines should be served at 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit.
You may lower the temperature of your wine cellar cooling unit to achieve serving temperatures by lowering the minimum setpoint. In a CellarPro wine cellar refrigeration unit, you first change the LS and ALL parameters on the control panel. There are step by step instructions on how to do this; contact CellarPro Cooling Systems to obtain them.
FACT 4: QUALITY WINE CELLAR COOLING UNIT
Through-the-wall wine cellar cooling systems like the CellarPro 1800 Series are the best kind of wine cellar cooling units. They are self-enclosed, fully charged and easy to install.
US Cellar Systems has various options of wine cellar refrigeration units for you to choose from. The best way to identify what cooling unit is best for your home wine cellar in Los Angeles is to have a professional calculate the heat load inside the storage room.
A Modern Home with Rustic Wine Cellar Design in Orange County
Rustic wine cellar design for home wine cellars is an enchanting combination of style and functionality that is gaining increasing demand across Orange County, California.
Beyond aesthetics, it pays homage to the region’s rich winemaking heritage, infusing warmth and character into the space. Natural materials like wood and stone foster ideal storage conditions, safeguarding precious vintages from California’s varying climates.
For wine lovers, this design transcends mere storage; it becomes a sanctuary where curated collections mature gracefully while creating an intimate setting to share and celebrate with friends. The vintage residential wine cellars, harmonious blends of tradition and innovation, elevate the joy of wine appreciation to new heights.
Coastal Custom Wine Cellars
Continue reading as we tour around a timeless rustic wine cellar design in one of the residential areas in Orange County. This is one of the residential wine cellar projects accomplished by Coastal Custom Wine Cellars and Bella Vita Wine Cellars!
Rustic Wine Cellar Design: Why Choose Barolo Door?
Installing wooden wine racks in your wine cellar is always a great choice. This classic design has been trusted for a long time, and many still prefer it over modern metal racks because of its elegance and sophistication in the wine storage.
The luxurious Barolo door complements the rustic ambiance of the client’s living room.
Custom wooden wine racks are incredibly versatile and can fit in almost any type of wine cellar, whether modern, traditional, or transitional. They provide an excellent way to display your wine collection beautifully. One of our clients, who enjoys wine and spirits, wanted to showcase some of his favorite bottles.
So, our team designed and built wine cellar lighting using LED lighting panels in the wine room. These panels have lighting that illuminates the bottles placed on them, creating a subtle glow that enhances the look of the impressive bottles.
The wine cellar has a Barolo door with an arched top and beveled glass insert to add to the fantastic presentation. The wooden components of the door are made from laminated veneer lumber from knotty Alder wood. This Alder wood was specially treated and sealed to minimize air gaps.
The knotty Alder wood and the arched top of the Barolo door perfectly complement the dominant wooden elements and arches in the client’s home. The Barolo door also features an automatic door bottom that seals the wine room when you close it, keeping everything secure and well-maintained.
How Wooden Wine Racking Adds Value to this Home Wine Cellar
Be enticed by this custom wooden arch with the elegant wooden wine racks in Orange County!
This wine cellar has some remarkable features that stand out. The racking system looks fantastic with its rustic lacquer finish of knotty Alder wood. There are reveal racks and horizontal display racks with LED lighting, making it easy to read wine labels.
Custom wooden wine racks in this cellar have a cork-forward bottle orientation, which is excellent for maximizing bottle capacity. It’s surprising how many bottles can be stored, especially in double-deep or triple-deep configurations. People with limited space often choose this custom wine-racking system for their cellars.
The center of the wine cellar features a custom-made wooden arch, also made of knotty Alder wood with a lacquer finish. This area can be used for decanting wines or displaying decorative pieces to add flair to the cellar.
These are the regal-themed wooden wine racks made of Alder wood
Beneath the arch are a couple of diamond bins, each capable of storing up to 12 bottles. Above the diamond bins is a convenient drawer for storing other items inside the wine room. Above the arch is a top shelf with built-in lighting, providing a perfect spot to showcase rare wines or liquors.
The Right Choice of Cooling Unit for Visually Appealing Vintage Wine Cellar
One more fantastic feature of this wine cellar is its cooling system. You won’t see or hear the cooling unit inside the cellar. For this project, the team installed a US Cellars System HS unit. They ducted this unit into the attic while the condensing unit was outside the garden.
This setup cleverly hides the mechanical parts of the cooling unit, so you don’t have an unsightly view of your wine cellar. The ducting system also does a great job of eliminating the noise from the cooling unit. This intelligent setup not only ensures the perfect climate for your wine but also dramatically enhances the overall beauty of the wine cellar.
Rustic Wine Cellar Design in Orange County, Let’s Make it Happen with Bella Vita Wine Cellar’s Help!
Bella Vita Wine Cellars
When creating the perfect home wine cellar, trust the expertise of Bella Vita Wine Cellars experts! Our team of skilled contractors and wine cellar specialists is dedicated to bringing your wine storage vision to life. With years of experience and a passion for craftsmanship, we take pride in delivering top-notch, custom-built wine cellars that preserve your cherished wine collection and elevate the beauty of your home.
Your satisfaction is our priority, and we are committed to providing you with exceptional wine cellar ideas, like this rustic wine cellar design that we crafted for our client in Orange County. Whether in Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Clemente, Costa Mesa, or a nearby city in Orange County, we can help you build your dream home wine cellars!
Begin your wine cellar journey with us by reaching us at Bella Vita Wine Cellars at +1 (714) 798 9858!
Check out the elegant features of vintage wine cellars and their rustic wine cellar design:
Learn About A Few of the Best Wood Species For Custom Wine Cellars
Custom wine cellars will house your beloved wines. They must be beautiful and durable. The beauty and strength of your custom wine cellars depends on what wood specie is used in making them. Here are a few of the best custom wood cellar choices that you can select from:
Prime Mahogany
Prime Mahogany is a wood specie that is reddish brown colored, and is one of the best wood types grown in Southeast Asia. This wood specie looks beautiful unstained, but readily absorbs stains and finishes, should you opt to apply them. Besides its elegant color, Prime Mahogany has a classic mahogany grain pattern. Applying stains and finishes will accentuate it.
Prime Mahogany is a good choice for custom wine cellars, because this dense hardwood is resistant to rotting, shrinking, warping, decay, checking and infestation.
Amber Blaze Mahogany
Amber Blaze Mahogany is another good choice of wood specie for custom wine cellars, because it is a very dense, hard and heavy type of wood. It has a distinctly dark reddish brown color. Because of this color, wine cellars made from this wood specie have a luxurious appearance.
Premium Redwood
Another good wood choice for your custom wine cellar is Premium Redwood. This type of wood is grown in the cool, damp forests of Northern California. Because of the climate where it is grown, it is naturally resistant to a cool and humid environment akin to that within a wine storage room.
Premium Redwood comes in a variety of colors, ranging from white, to pink, to red and reddish brown. It also is a type of wood that has an open-celled structure, and has very little to no pitch or resins. These characteristics enable this type of wood to absorb and retain all kinds of finishes.
Premium Redwood is very durable. It is resistant to shrinking, warping and checking.
Clear All Heart Redwood
Clear All Heart Redwood is a type of Redwood grown in the cool, damp forests of Northern California. This type of wood is a good choice for custom wine cellars, because it is very resistant to rot, mildew and insect infestations. As the tree from which this wood comes from grows, it absorbs minerals, which give it its reddish brown tones and make it highly resistant to decay. Clear All Heart Redwood is so durable that it can last thousands of years.
Clear All Heart Redwood comes in a variety of colors that range from pink, to red, to dark brown with reddish overlay. This type of wood will age beautifully, even without stains or finishes. Its colors grow darker in depth through time.
Rustic Pine
Rustic Pine is another good choice for building custom wine cellars. This type of pine grows all throughout North America. It has a distinct soft and creamy color, and has subtle streaks and structurally sound knots. Custom wine cellars made from Rustic Pine have a rustic architectural appearance.
Rustic Pine comes in a variety of grain patterns, which are emphasized when dark stains are applied. The variations become even more pronounced if a lacquer finish is added. Rustic Pine efficiently absorbs and retains all types of finishes.
Hi! My name is Jerry Wilson, I’m the founder of Coastal Custom Wine Cellars. I’d like to take you on a tour of one of our 3-dimensional design packages for this new custom wine cellar in St. Louis, Missouri.
3D Plan of This Beautiful Custom Wine Cellar in St. Louis
This is a recent project that we completed in July 2012. Our client was looking for maximum capacity and a kind of fusion of modern and traditional wine cellar appearances.
It is a difficult thing to do with wood, making it contemporary, but to add to the characteristics of the custom wine cellar, we included, as you’ll see in the pictures that I will share here with you, a full glass, a seamless glass, fixed wall on entry for a really stunning visual as well.
Features of This Custom Wine Cellar
The walls are labeled, elevations A and B, and here’s the front wall, which is a fixed glass. Elevations B are the left side and
Coastal Custom Wine Cellars
right side walls, and they are mirror images of each other. We kept clean, simple balance and symmetry in this wine room.
We did not want to do anything too over the top as we are trying to keep the dimensions simple and with a modern appearance.
Single bottle storage above a high reveal display row which is illuminated by LED lighting, and then we have some bulk storage in the diamond areas here. The back wall is simple, with just single bottle storage and a high-reveal display, and as you can see in the 3D visuals, you get a better idea of how everything comes together.
CellarPro Wine Cooling Unit
Notice this left column here and this right side column, these are label forward horizontal displays, and it added a nice touch from as far as the visual from outside of the custom wine cellar. This wine cellar being just 7 feet by 7 feet with a 7-foot height, can house 926 bottles.
We utilized the CellarPro 4200 wine cellar refrigeration unit, and we used some cooperage from oak barrel wine barrels from Napa Valley. I’ll show some pictures of that as well.
As you can see, the left side here and the right side of the label forward horizontal displays; we did it to capture some modern appearance, a somewhat modern and contemporary beautiful wine cellar.
If you remember, we talked about the wine cellar refrigeration. We used the CellarPro 4200 with a remote display where you can see the LED display in the control, and there is no visible equipment in the wine room.
Typically, the CellarPro Wine Cellar Refrigeration Systems are self-contained, through-the-wall systems that are actually visible in the wine room. But in this case, we opted to include a rear ducting kit and a front ducting kit. What these enabled us to do was to eliminate the presence of a cooling unit in the wine cellar. It’s actually placed in the ceiling, above the ceiling,
I should say. The cold air is ducted to and from the wine room, and the hot air exhaust is not set to the adjoining area of the home. It’s actually ducted to the outdoors.
The wine cellar flooring, as you can see, is rather unique. This is made from 10-year-old Napa Valley oak barrels. We utilize the cooperage series. These are actually made from the top of the barrels that are actually branded by the wineries for identification purposes. It is a very simple tongue and groove installation, just like any wood flooring. It will really make a nice statement.
Create Your Custom Wine Cellars with the Bella Vita Wine Cellars’ Experts!
Looking for exceptional custom wine cellar projects in Orange County, California? Look no further than Bella Vita Wine
Bella Vita Wine Cellars
Cellars – the experts in wine cellar construction for over two decades. Our designs blend traditional and modern elements seamlessly, whether for residential or commercial purposes.
We take pride in using eco-friendly materials and innovative technologies, showcasing our commitment to sustainability. We specialize in custom wine cellars, custom wine racks, and repairing your valuable wine cellar components at your convenience.
We offer our expert services across Corona Del Mar, Rossmoor, San Juan Capistrano, Newport Beach, Surfside, Dana Point, San Clemente, Costa Mesa, and other nearby cities in Orange County.
Choose the best – contact Bella Vita Wine Cellars at +1 (714) 798-9858 today!