How About Adding a Wine Cellar to Your Home

If you love wine, you might just want your very own wine cellar. Before you start hammering, there are a few things you should probably know and think about.

A true hobbyist won't settle for pre-made materials or designs. Instead, they prefer to do everything themselves whether that means planning a new game room or restoring a classic car. Wine enthusiasts operate under the same sorts of principles as any other hobbyist. You will often see these enthusiasts building their own wine racks or cabinets. While these projects may be on the small size, there's no reason that a wine collector cannot take on the mother of all wine projects ? the wine cellar.

Some people may think that it's hard to add a wine cellar to a home, but actually, there are many different books, videos and websites that offer encouragement and ideas on how to construct your very own wine vault. Whether you'd like a small, closet sized wine cellar or a large underground one fit for a king, there are several items that all wine cellars have in common.

All wine cellars need to have a controlled temperature ? between 50 and 60 degrees fahrenheit. This is the ideal temperature for wines, both red and white, to mature in. If your wine cellar temperature varies too widely or is too cold or warm, your wines may spoil or not age properly. Wine cellars must also have a controlled humidity level. The humidity of the natural caves and wine cellars where wine is aged tends to be around 70 percent, so you'll want your own wine cellar to mimic this level. In order to achieve these climate necessities, you'll need to have both a humidifier and a cooling unit, so that you can be sure to have your wine at its optimum condition.

Another thing you'll need to have is a plan. As males, this goes against our basic instincts, but trust me on this one. Basic plans for wine cellars tend to use quality woods, such as oak, to construct shelving units for your wine bottles. Another option is to order custom made shelving units to outfit your wine cellar. You'll also need to construct the room your wine cellar will be held in ? which will require such materials as drywall, insulation and wiring. Depending on the location of your wine cellar, you might also need flooring and other materials.

Whipping together your own wine cellar can be an enjoyable and interesting experience. It can also be insanely complicated and complex. If you are looking for a hobby, grab a book and have a go. If you have an expensive collection, you should probably bring in the experts to save you a lot of frustration and keep from ruining your collection.