Why You Need a Wine Cellar In Your Home

Wine cellars are not just exclusive for the rich and Hollywood stars. Others who want to get refreshing drinks have become more interested as this is becoming a popular trend in many homes. The cellars can be home to your wine bottles from other countries where they will be exposed to the best environment so that you can enjoy them better. Read more about them on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_cellar. 

You may be starting to become an enthusiast after taking a sip of Pinot Noir, and you wanted to discover more. Others who have amassed some collection of rare bottles may wish to create the right place to maintain the flavors and ensure that they will be richer on their maturity date.

Know that even if they can be stored for centuries, there are still wines that perish. The way they are stored will impact their flavors and qualities, so you must take the time to give them the right temperature and humidity.

Requirements to Build the Right Cellar

If you miss the elements below, you risk jeopardizing your precious bottles and the overall integrity of your wine. What you need to maintain the quality are the following:

• Temperature that ranges between 45 to 65 degrees
• Humidity levels should always be between 70 to 50%
• Darkness
• Free from constant vibrations
• Proper racks to constantly hold the vibrations
• Cellars Can Save You a Lot of Money
• When you find a good bottle at slashed prices, you can even save money if you purchase them today rather than wait for your current supplies to be consumed.
• You can get a few selections of delicious champagne inside your home for several occasions. The choices can be alternatives to one bottle of very expensive red wine that’s the only available storage area.
• Excellent tastes come with the proper aging, so you’ll be saving more with the cellar as well.

Other Advantages to Know About

More Convenient Option: You don’t have to go to the store when you have guests who arrive late at night. Instead, you can make a trip down the cellar and choose the right bottle for the unexpected visit. If you have several bottles available, you can select the best ones that are right for the party.

Have More Expertise: The more you’re exposed to great selections, the more an expert you’ll become. Know more about finding experts on this site. You will be knowledgeable about different kinds of wines, the various ones available in other countries, and know when they are at their peaks and are ripe for the taking. 

Higher Resale Value of the Home: Building a cellar will be a great addition to your property. Many people will love the fact that they don’t have to build everything from scratch, and you’ll be given a much larger offer that you may not be able to resist. An excellent cellar built by experts is becoming a status symbol in real estate, and many are willing to pay the price for them.

Improved Collection: You can get a merlot or cabernet sauvignon at the same time when you have an area where you can store them. There’s a guarantee that they will taste so rich when you have kept them in the proper temperatures and environmental conditions made possible by a cellar.

Organization: When you have already acquired a few rare bottles, you will better organize them when they have an exclusive place of their own. You can group white wines like Riesling, Chardonnay, or Pinot Grigio and do the same with red wines.

Pleasurable Hobby: Many people find that they enjoy collecting various wines from different countries when they travel. When guests come over, they find pleasure in showing their collection off to their friends and families. They also love to send gifts and share their tastes, and cellars can help them store their precious finds without any hassle.

More Profits: Cellars are not just there for the sheer pleasure of building them, but they can also provide profits. When owners decide to sell, they can reap some profits because the drinks have time to mature.

Humidity and the Right Temperature are Vital

Environmental factors like humidity and temperature are crucial when it comes to a wine cellar. The temperatures should be 55-degree Fahrenheit or a few down below this number for the drinks to age at a good pace. Humidity levels should be between 50 and 70% for the protection of the corks and the bottle contents. This is why most of the cellars are often located in the basement, where they are not prone to get sunlight and become affected by the weather.

The cooling units are one of the more vital aspects in the creation of the cellar. The heat is pushed out of the room, and it goes into an exhaust for absorption. It’s essential to get a temperature controlled wine cellar that will last for years. You may need experts’ help regarding this, and they will ensure that the conditions are right.

Consult an expert when you’re considering adding a wine cellar to your home. The specialists are the ones who are familiar with the steps, and they will recommend suitable units for cooling. Meanwhile, some of the things that you need to prepare for in the cellar space are the following:

1. The Basement Should Not Have any Leaks

Check the room and ensure that there are no air leaks inside. The walls should have insulation to protect the bottles in your collection. Prepare the rooms so every environmental factor can be controlled to assure the proper aging of wines. The basement should be given much attention if this will be your chosen space as you don’ want to damage expensive bottles. You should ensure that’s everything is free from light, water, and air leaks with R-19 minimum insulation.

2. Vapor Barrier Installation

Vapor barriers are plastic sheets that are commonly placed behind the insulating material. They are most often found on the warmer side of the walls. Know that the interior of the storage is considered as the cool side. The barriers act as protection from the hot and cold sides of the insulation.

You may be wondering why the vapor barriers are on the warmer side. The reason for this is if they are located near a cold room, they will cause humidity to condense. This will result in moisture which is the perfect environment for mold to grow. These mold spores can ruin an otherwise perfect finish in the walls of the basement. The dense pockets of mold can even threaten the foundation of the home or damage the bottles’ labels.

You need to install a plastic surface on the external walls. If you find all of this difficult, you can always call an expert for help or apply plastic sheets from the inside of the room before you go out. Wrapping the entire interior with loose plastic sheets can be enough insulation in the stud cavities. The point is you need a complete barrier from both the inside and outside of walls.

3. Sealed Concrete Floors

You should change your floors if made from wood or rugs because they are considered too permeable and porous. It would be best if you had concrete floors that are properly sealed. The porousness of concrete is one of the factors why it needs sealing.

Find siloxanes or silanes which are penetrating sealers to cover the entire surface. Look for available high-quality coats like urethane and epoxies that can be applied after the curing of concrete. This is generally done after a month. Buy sealants and adhesives that are compatible with each other.

4. Furring the Walls

Furring strips in construction are thin materials or strips of wood used to raise the surface levels of walls or ceilings. They prevent dampness, and they are installed to make an area for insulation. The term furring the strips may refer to the processor to the materials themselves.

Some experts used 2×4-inch of foam strips or 2×2-inch of foam when it comes to furring the walls. It’s best to utilize rigid foam versions when it comes to insulations. The installers in some companies may require Roxul R-22 batt insulation for the exterior walls. The R-32 insulation comes in after the vapor barriers, and these varieties are often found on ceilings.

You should make sure that any remaining cracks and holes are treated with spray foam. The walls may become thicker, but they will provide a perfect environment for the bottles of wine.

5. Choose the Right Doors

You may be attracted to glass-paneled doors, but they are usually considered to have less value in insulation. You may want to select a larger BTU of cooling units when you want the glass-paneled doors installed. The cooling units can offset the diminished R values, and you’ll be able to get the overall look that you’re looking for. However, know that no matter how large your cooling unit is, it’s never going to compensate for poor insulation, which you need to focus on.

The glass doors should be thermal panes that were adequately sealed. The thickness should be ¾ or 5/8-inch glass, and the edges should be sealed around the frame. You don’t need an exterior-grade front door, but you need something that has an acceptable threshold and has undergone weather stripping. It’s essential to equip a door that makes an audible sound when you shut it, so you’re making sure that everything is sealed when you leave the cellar.

The doors that properly close will block the heat from entering inside. The cellar door should be at least one and ¾ of an inch thick, and they should be at least double-paned. Choose tempered glass if available to prevent further leaks.

6. Fix Any Air Leaks after the Door Installation

You should do some tests to ensure that space is completely sealed after the installation of the door. Observe the floors and walls carefully. Take note of the places around light switches, vents, and pipes, and make sure that there are no rooms for any leaks. The doors should be closed with a solid sound that will indicate that everything inside is airtight.

People who rarely choose to install windows in their cellars need to have UV-protected, double-paned, and thermal-insulated features to help block the heat out. It’s essential never to use the recessed lights and opt for the low-voltage options. With this said, there’s a point where homeowners can over-insulate and over-seal their cellars, so it’s better if you can bring in the experts for the job.

7. Put Finishing in the Walls

If you do everything correctly, the finishing is like icing on the cake. The suitable finishes will help you create the overall ambiance that you want and envision the Instagram-worthy cellars that you’ve been dreaming up for a long time. Space should already be secured enough from leaks, and the overall rooms have stable temperatures. The paints should be water-based, and so should the stains be in the interior.

The air should be able to flow outside once you’re done with the finishes and paints. This is important to get rid of odors that can worsen once humidity and cooling unit systems begin their operations.

8. Cooling System is Very Essential

No matter the size of your overall cellar space, you need to choose the right cooling unit to ensure that you’ll maintain the quality of the wine bottles. These units will be the heart of your storage, and they should functionally operate all of the time. Maintain a cool and chilly space and be consistent so you’ll achieve tremendous success.

Some may opt to get a mini-refrigerator unit to get the chill they desired, even if it’s hot outside. Some of the factors that you need to look for include the size of your cellar, adjacent rooms, and the unit’s specifications. It’s always best to consult with the professionals before beginning your project, so you’ll know better.