A soon as Chris Sekin walked into the wood frame house on Palo Pinto, he knew he had to buy it.
“There was a stairwell off the dining room leading down, and after I got over the surprise of seeing a basement, I went down there,” says Sekin, an advertising copywriter. “And when I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for a wine cellar.”
Which is as good an example as any that you don’t have to be a high-end collector or a French chateau owner to keep wine somewhere other than the racks under the kitchen sink. These days, wine cellars are cropping up in all sorts of places — unused closets, spare bedrooms, remodeled kitchens. Says Larry Lynch, the vice president of International Wine Accessories on
, which sells wine cellar components, racks and shelving, and wine coolers: “Within the last three years, the popularity of wine cellars has really taken off. It used to be that only hard-core wine people had them. Now, it seems like everyone wants one.”
That’s because a modern cellar does not have to be underground, or even a room at all. It can be as simple and as inexpensive as a two dozen-bottle wine refrigerator, available at most appliance and home remodeling stores for as little as $200. These units keep wine at its optimum storage temperature, and the more advanced ones include digital temperature control and readouts.
And, for many people, that will be enough, says Diane Teitelbaum, the nationally known wine consultant and writer who lives near
If, on the other hand, your wine collection is more extensive — or if you want it to be more extensive — then it’s time to look at the spare closet or bedroom.
That was Sekin’s approach. He has been interested in wine for five years or so, but never to the point where he started piling up all sorts of high end Napas and Burgundies. Rather, his 120-bottle collection, though it does have some spectacular labels (including a 1983 Margaux), is more about wine he likes to drink. One of the advantages of keeping his wine in the 600-square foot basement, he says, is that it’s a terrific place to have friends over to share a glass or two.
Sekin’s basement may be unique, but the principle is the same regardless of the space you choose:
• Pick a place where there’s good air flow, removed from direct light and heat, that can be kept cool. Wine keeps best at about 50 degrees (whites should be kept colder than reds).
• Decide on shelving. There are metal racks, redwood and mahogany supports, or even wine crates or boxes. Sekin suggests wooden wine crates, which you can get from many wine stores who otherwise have to throw them out.
• How big do you want it? A closet can hold as many as a couple hundred bottles, while a spare bedroom can hold thousands. Catalogs and on-line retailers such as the Wine Enthusiast are good resources.
• Pick a setup that fits your budget. You can spend $5,000 for an under-the-kitchen-counter system or $25,000 to convert a spare bedroom. Or you can spend as little as $600, which includes the shelving and small air conditioner, to turn a closet into a storage area. Sekin’s cost: $5,000 to renovate his entire basement, which included building partitions for the hot water heater and washer and dryer, refinishing the cement walls, installing new lighting and buying shelving to hold 350 bottles.
• You can do it yourself. Lynch says that unless you’re adding a chateau-style cellar, most of the work is simple and straightforward and doesn’t require much more skill than similar home improvement projects.
In the end, you’ll have a place to store wine, and it almost doesn’t matter whether it’s a $6 wine or something that makes the wine magazines swoon.
“The one piece of advice I’d give people is not to be afraid to do something,” says Sekin, whose project took about six months. “People look at what I did, and say, ‘We couldn’t do that.’ But they can turn a closet into a cellar, and it’s something you can do even if you’re not a huge wine drinker.”
