GoGoKitty’s Wine Secrets

A wine cellar needs temperature and humidity control. Good insulation, a vapor barrier and a climate control system are all major components, but a big part of climate control comes in selecting the right wine room door. The wrong choice can force your wine cellar refrigeration system to work more and allow undesirable warm air inside your wine room, nullifying the rest of your cautious wine room construction and design.

The correct wine cellar door maintains a seal on the entryway when the door is closed, allowing the wine cellar cooling unit to circulate temperature and humidity-controlled air through the total wine room without battling with air leaking into the room from outside the door. Whether you buy a pre-made standard door, or have one built to your desired specifications, all good wine doors have specific qualities that make them perfect for the climate control demands of your wine storage room.

Wine Cellar Door Construction

Custom wine cellar contractors recommend using exterior grade wine doors, which are powerful enough to withstand temperature fluctuations and keep outside air from trickling in. An excellent exterior grade wine cellar door should be weatherproofed and acclimatized to the level of temperature and humidity in the environment where it will be used; the humidity factor should not be ignored when picking a door. The recommended humidity for a wine room falls roughly between 50% and 80%, with 70% being the target level. If a wine room door can’t survive 70% humidity without warping or additional issues, it isn’t worth the money you paid for it.

Wooden wine doors should have rock-hard construction; by no means use a cavernous door as the entrance for your custom wine cellar. If you use a glass wine cellar door, it should be double-paned to help keep exterior air out. The recommended thickness for wine room doors varies according to who you ask, but the bare minimum you should install for your wine cellar is one and three-quarter inches. If your wine cellar door is accessible to children or if you just want some extra security for your wines consider adding a lock to your door specs.

Wine Room Door Materials

Wine cellar doors are available in a variety of materials; wood, glass, even wrought iron. Options consist of standard doors, carved wood doors or carved wood and glass. You can also get beveled glass doors or wine cellar iron doors.

When purchasing a wine cellar door, the condition of your wine cellar may dictate your purchase to a certain point. Is the wine room already built? Do you need to buy a door to fit your existing entryway? Or do you need a complete set with the door, doorjamb, weather stripping included in a package? Wine cellar doors may come in “door-only” versions or as pre-hung doors. A pre-hung wine room door comes to you installed into a frame which you set up into the entryway. Pre-hung doors speed up the installation process if you are doing the work yourself, but you may need an extra set of hands to help get the door in position and correctly attached.

Some wine cellar doors contain optional wrought-iron attachments which are set up on top of your door once it has been installed in the opening, but these don’t have anything to do with climate control issues in your cellar; the wrought iron add-ons are purely decorative. If you add these ornamental designs, it is vital to fasten them securely to the door to eliminate the potential for damage to the lacquer finish of the wood.

Wine Cellar Doors vs. Entryways

Many wine cellar door manufacturers offer custom-designed and built entryways. What’s the difference between an entryway and a wine room door? With a custom entryway you are having the entire section of door, doorjamb and related construction included in the package. This can allow for the construction of a more stylish look for your cellar and offer some additional custom options for the area. If you order the door only, you can set it up in your existing entryway, which is helpful for situations where you are already happy with the surrounding wine cellar construction.

Miscellaneous Concerns

Wine cellar doors should come with a threshold, door sweep and perimeter seal. These seals permit the door to be weather-stripped on all three sides to keep out drafts when the door is shut. Weather stripping is a necessity for the entrance to your wine room, or else your wine cooling system works less efficiently and your climate controlled air will move into the area outside the wine cellar.

Are you buying a custom wine room door? You will need measurements of your door jamb or entryway and you must decide whether you want handles or locks. Some vendors will not supply locks or pre-drilling. If you want to install a lock in these cases you will have to do the job yourself based on the design specifications of an exact lock.

Sometimes the direction your doors open might be an issue. When deciding which way your wine room doors should hinge, think about the placement of your wine racking or accessories around the doors, and how wide you need to open the doors should you need to add in a crate or case of wine bottles. If you need more clearance than the inside of your wine room can provide, make sure your doors can swing open to the outside, and don’t forget a doorstop or additional add-on to prevent the doors from striking the wall.

A wine cellar door is a significant part to your wine room. Selected wisely the doors can help your wine cellar work properly and create a great first impression to your visitors.

Ben Adams is the marketing director for Vigilant, Inc. a luxury goods manufacturer in Dover, NH. Vigilant is a premier manufacturer of wine cellars, wine racks and wine cellar doors as well as cigar storage equipment. Vigilant partners with homeowners and businesses to create wine storage spaces to fulfill the need for complete and precise protection for collections of fine wine. Please visit them at www.vigilantinc.com for additional information or to learn about any of their wine storage or cigar storage products.

Setting up a personal wine cellar can help keep your prized collection of wine in peak condition. In order to age properly and to develop the delicate layers of taste intended, wine should be laid down in a cellar away from the low humidity, temperature changes and inadequate storage the bulk of the average home generates.

Small-scale or elaborate, a wine cellar should incorporate the following components:

• proper insulation
• racks to protect and display the bottles
• good temperature controls
• proper lighting levels

Your wine cellar can be an example of your taste - perhaps you have a preference for practicality, and as much storage in a small space as you can manage. Or, you may want a show piece where you can entertain friends and sample wines in elegant comfort. Keep your needs in mind when you design your cellar.

Also note that a wine cellar doesn’t have to be reserved for a country estate, as people from all walks of life who enjoy a fine bottle of wine build or have wine cellars in their homes.

Embark on the design process with an understanding of how you view your wine collection. Some bottles resemble art pieces, so you may want to display them prominently. Sometimes you may want to showcase a rare vintage, or perhaps decorate your space with wine-related arts or crafts that bring ambience to the area.

A variety of storage modules correctly combined will give your wine cellar the most versatility. You can purchase modular storage systems that assemble in a customized fashion, or you can have a carpenter create the storage (this can be the more expensive option).

Simple storage racks (in wood or metal) will ensure that the wine remains efficiently ventilated and separated. You may also want an area reserved for wine accessories, like glasses, corkscrews, bottle openers and wine chillers or buckets.  Your wine cellar can also have essentially decorative elements in the form of handcrafted doors or mood lighting.

Red wines benefit most from cellar storage, particularly varieties that acquire body from long-term storage. A lot of people imagine that cellars need to be located in the basement or else beneath the house, but they can actually be located in any area of the house as long as the temperature and humidity levels can be effectively controlled. Make your wine cellar a personal tribute to your passion for wine.

If you want to discover more about wine cellars, head over to http://www.infoaboutwine.com

Storing wine is what we’ll be looking at in this part of our wine 101 guide…

The first thing you need to know when it comes to wine storage is to place your bottles on their side somewhere relatively cool and free from direct light. If you do this, youll be able to keep your wine for longer because the flavors won’t be damaged. However, learning a little more than the basics is advisable and thats what we’ll look at now.

Temperature is an important factor when you’re dealing with wine. For the optimal storage, your wines should be kept between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit; though a slightly broader range is okay in some situations. A lower, colder temperature causes the aging process to slow down, preventing the wine from aging properly. A higher temperature, on the other hand, can prematurely age your wine and cause it to go bad.

Fluctuating temperatures hurt wines the most. It’s much better to keep your wine at a constant temperature, even if it is too high or too low, than to subject it to large fluctuations every day. The temperature should never fluctuate more than 5 degrees a day, especially with red wines, which suffer more temperature-related problems than white wines.

Humidity is also important as, unless its properly maintained, it can cause the cork to dry out, and this allows air to come into contact with the wine (which damages it). Keeping your humidity level at around 70 to 80 percent is ideal for wine storage, and you can track this with a hygrometer.

A wine cellar is obviously the best place to achieve these optimal conditions, but due to their cost and the space they take up, they’re not an option for most. However, you can mimic the conditions of a wine cellar in a basement or garage. Making some space in either and purchasing a wine rack and temperature / humidity gauge are highly recommended if you intend on storing more than a few bottles of wine at a time.

If you’re wondering how long to store your wine for, the answer is complicated; many factors contribute to storage length, not limited to the production technique, style of wine, and region where it was produced. However, a good rule of thumb is to age reds for up to 10 years and whites for no more than a year or two. If you’re starting out, aging charts (which are available free online) can help you see when a wine is typically best enjoyed.

Someone we know recently bought one of those wine refrigerators that are all the rage.  Now he is thinking about moving his collection of quality wines into it, wines that he has been keeping at a controlled room temperature for the past several years. He’s not planning on keeping the refrigerator very cold, but he nevertheless wonders if it will damage the wines to put them in the wine fridge at this point.  He says the refigerator temp will be only slightly cooler than that of the room where he has been keeping the wine all these years.

Our opinion? Yes, he can store the bottles in the new wine refrigerator. We would only recommend this in light of his intention to keep the fridge’s temperature at a reasonable level (not extra cold). For most people and in most cases, we still think that a good old-fashioned wine cellar, or even a spare room or stairwell space that can be kept at an even, slightly cool temperature, is superior to a wine refrigerator, at least for storing red wines.