If you’re a true wine aficionado, then purchasing wine is probably something that you find yourself doing on a regular basis. Whether you prefer to stock your collection with samples from the local liquor store or bottles from the finest wineries throughout the country, if you have a tendency to accumulate more wine than you can easily consume, then it’s a good idea to protect your drinkable investments by creating a place in which to store them. For many people, the idea of having a household wine cellar is nothing short of a dream come true. However, building a wine cellar can be rather difficult, and the help of an HVAC professional is often required in order to do so correctly.
As the owner of Priority Aire Cooling and Heating, a Las Vegas company equipped to handle a wide variety of HVAC matters, Patrick Dennis understands the challenges inherent in constructing a household wine cellar. For some people, the greatest hurdle to overcome when building a wine cellar is space, or lack thereof. Some homes simply aren’t equipped with the square footage needed to incorporate a wine cellar. Others might have the space available, but in the wrong location. In the Las Vegas area, where Priority Aire is located, most homes do not tend to come with basements; and since the basement is usually the ideal spot within any given home for wine storage, the absence of one can make the addition of a wine cellar even more difficult.
When it comes to building a wine cellar, one of the greatest challenges involved is cooling the area in a manner that best preserves the inventory at stake. The ideal temperature range for wine storage falls around 55 F to 58 F. Additionally, humidity can play a huge role in keeping wine at its best, so a good wine cellar’s climate needs to allow for an internal humidity of 50% to 70%. It can sometimes be difficult to incorporate a cooling system that allows for such damp, controlled temperature conditions, and for this reason, the average homeowner with a wine cellar on his wish list will require the help of a seasoned HVAC professional in order to get the job done. Additionally, wine cellars need to be built with properly insulated walls, ceilings, and floors. Those looking to build wine cellars should also be aware that certain materials for flooring and shelving are less ideal than others; any material capable of producing an odor or degrading due to humidity exposure is not a good choice for a wine cellar.
If having a wine cellar is something that you’ve always dreamed of, then it’s a good idea to contact an HVAC professional to determine whether or not your home is equipped to handle one. In some cases, you might be better served by purchasing a couple of large-sized wine refrigerators, rather than constructing a dedicated room for the storage and preservation of wine. Regardless of how you decide to house your wine, the key is to do it in a manner that allows for proper aging or freshness as applicable because as impressive as your wine collection might be, it’s really, on a whole, only as good as it tastes.
