Category Archives: wine cellars

How to Choose a Good Wine Cellar Refrigeration Unit

Written by

Wine cellar refrigeration systems are an essential part of wine storage. Wine cellar cooling units provide the ideal temperature and humidity inside a cellar for wines to be able to age tastefully. A good wine cellar cooling system can provide a temperature of 55 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity of approximately 70%. Here are the things that you need to look for when choosing a wine cellar cooling system:

1. Check How the Cooling Unit Works

Most wine cellars are configured with a self-contained cooling system, known as forced air cooling. In this system, two fans are utilized. One fan functions to circulate the cool air inside the wine storage room while the other fan forces air through the condenser coils on the outside and exhausts warm air that has risen to the top of the storage room. This configuration is very efficient, especially if your wine storage room is in an area where the temperature outside varies 30 degrees Fahrenheit above or below the appropriate wine storage temperature range.

2. Check for Temperature Control Mechanism and Digital Display Apparatus

Wine cellar refrigeration systems that are made by quality manufacturers usually have electronic temperature controls, as well as digital displays. These features are very helpful, because they allow you to have precise control over the temperature and humidity inside the commercial or residential wine cellar in California. Not only do electronic temperature controls make sure that temperature readings are accurate, they also prevent fluctuations in the levels. Digital displays are a great addition, because you can read and gauge the condition inside the storage room any time.

3. Check the Cooling Unit’s Noise Level

The noise level of a unit is one of the major factors to consider when choosing a wine cellar cooling system in California. There are many manufacturers today that are dedicated to creating a wine cellar refrigeration system that is quiet and vibration-free. There are wine cellar cooling units today that utilize an absorption technology wherein compressors are not needed and vibrations are not generated. Choose the refrigeration units for your cellar wisely, because vibrations can damage your wine collections.

4. Choose Cooling Systems that are Easily Repaired or Replaced

Wine cellar refrigeration units in Vancouver are as much as an investment as your wine collection. You want to make sure that your beloved wines are aging efficiently by investing in a quality cooling unit. In case your refrigeration system breaks or wears down, you want it to be easily repaired or replaced, so that your wines won’t suffer being stored out of the ideal temperature and humidity while waiting for the unit to be repaired or replaced.

What to Consider When Building a Custom Wine Cellar in CA

Written by

A custom wine cellar in Los Angeles, California is the safest place to store your wine collection. Have a residential wine cellar built by the best wine cellar builders in California. Wine Cellars by Coastal are not only functional and durable, but also elegant and classy.

If you plan to have a residential wine cellar built in your home in California, here are a few things that you need to keep in mind:

Customize the Home Wine Cellar Walls

You can make your residential wine cellar in California look even better by customizing it. One way you can customize it is by choosing unique wall treatments. There are various kinds of wall treatments, and these include paint, tile, slate, stone, wood panel and travertine. Whatever treatment you choose, make sure that the material is able to do well in a slightly damp environment.

Custom Wine Cellar Flooring

The wine cellar’s flooring plays a very important role in making sure that the wine storage room functions properly. Make sure that the surface of your wine cellar floor is durable and solid. It should be able to withstand harsh flooring conditions, such as constant moisture and frequent wine spills. Wine cellar flooring should also be beautiful. The flooring you choose should complement the overall design of your home wine cellar in Los Angeles. There are many choices for wine cellar flooring, and these include hardwood, sealed concrete, tile and stone.

Wooden Paneling to Cover Wine Cellar Walls

If you do use wood-paneled walls for your custom wine cellar, you need to allow expansion and contraction of the wood. The wood will eventually expand and contract due to the humidity inside the wine cellar. If there is now allowance for expansion and contraction, the wood will eventually crack and buckle.

Other Considerations When Building a Custom Wine Cellar in CA

There are a lot of things to consider when designing and building your residential wine cellar in LA, California. For example, you still need to decide on what lighting and other accessories you want installed in your wine storage room. You also need to consider how to avoid vibrations and odors. You need to figure out what wine cellar refrigeration system will you have installed in the cellar as well.

Designing and building a custom wine cellar in LA, California must be planned carefully. Of course, the wisest way to start is to seek the advice of a wine cellar design professional.

Designing California Wine Cellars with Used Oak Wine Barrel

Written by

We commonly see oak barrels (wooden, bulky oval containers) in movies and pictures placed in a wine cellar for preserving wine. Oak barrels are a significant part of wine storage.

Oak Wine Barrels Impart Subtle Flavors to the Wine Stored in Them

Before wine is bottled, it is aged in wine barrels after the fermentation process. Oak wine barrels impart subtle flavors to the wine stored in them. They are also porous in nature which allows oxidation needed by wine to have richer aromas and complex flavors. The longer the wine is stored in the barrel, the stronger the flavor that it imparts to the wine. Imparted flavors due to wine’s exposure to oak are vanilla, cream, caramel, smoke, and spice.

 The type of wood, size, age, grain component, origin, and the treatment received by the oak barrel also affects the taste of wine. “Toasting” the oak barrel to caramelize its wood sugars is a common practice. This creates coffee and mocha flavors, especially to red wines.

After the desired period of storage, wine is then transferred into bottles and placed in a wine cellar or wine rack where it is aged and displayed for aesthetic or business purposes. Instead of putting the used barrels into landfill or using them as firewood, they are used to create furniture or accessories for wine cellars.

WB FLOORINGWine Cellar Flooring

Just as our taste buds deserve the finest wine, our wine cellar deserves to be designed with aesthetic appeal. Give your California custom wine room a unique and antique look by choosing reclaimed wine barrel flooring. Old wine barrels are milled into 3 components: cooperage (top and bottom of the barrel), wine infusion (inside of the barrel) and stave (outside of the barrel). This type of flooring will surely make your wine storage space an envy of friends!

WB RACKWine Racks

Used oak barrels can also be re-purposed into wine racks. Wine barrel wine racks are eye-catching and strong enough to hold your collection if constructed properly. You may opt for custom wine racks that allow you to incorporate any design or style that your want. The whole wine barrel or a certain part of it can be made into a wine storage rack.

WB TASTING TABLETasting Tables for Wine Cellars

The tasting table in a wine cellar is important for decanting, wine tasting, or storing extra wine bottles or glasses. Wine barrel tasting tables are a perfect way to accentuate one’s wine cellar, giving it an old-world feel. You may use custom glass or granite top to add sophistication to the space.

Wine Barrel Carvings

One of the favorite ways to recycle old wine barrels is using them to make wine barrel art carvings. The part that is often used is the end of the barrel which can be carved carefully according to your desired theme or idea.

 Wine Barrel Carvings by Coastal

Other wine barrel furniture that can accentuate your wine cellar includes chairs, stools, hanging wine glass racks, wine coolers, and sinks. By using reclaimed oak wine barrels in designing your custom wine room, you will not only beautify you wine cellar, but also help save mother Earth. For any wine cellar needs, contact Wine Cellars by Coastal at (888) 735-8889. Visit their completed wine cellar projects at http://www.winecellarsbycoastal.com/custom-wine-cellars.aspx

Essential Features of Vancouver Custom Wine Cellars

Written by

Wine storage is not as easy as one may think. One has to question himself many times over before embarking on this kind of collection. It is not merely collecting wine bottles, but collecting and sharing experiences and engaging in friendships with people one has common interests with. There is also the aspect of expense in acquiring fine wines, building a custom wine cellar, installing wine racks, and acquiring other essential wine accessories.

Since the wine collection itself costs a lot of money, it is only right that the wine cellar is equipped with the right features for the wines worthy to be displayed or sold, as the case may be.

 

Efficient Wine Cellar Cooling System

The most important feature of a wine cellar is an efficient wine cooling system. Wine enthusiasts and collectors know that when storing wine, the right temperature must be maintained at all times. Ideally, the temperature should be somewhere between 55 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wine Cooling System – the Most Important Feature of a Wine Cellar

The ideal humidity level (which is 55-75%) must also be maintained to prevent cork from drying out. If that happens, air will enter the bottle thru the dried up cork and the wine will be ruined as oxygen will bring about chemical changes.

Appealing Wine Racks

It is also essential that durable but aesthetically appealing wine racks be installed in your wine storage space. If the owner prefers wooden modular wine racks, find something that will strongly hold hundreds of wine bottles and one that will maximize the space available in the wine cellar.

It is important that the wine racks be screwed to the wall to prevent them from toppling over, causing breakage of expensive wines. This will also minimize shaking or vibrations that can ruin the wines.

Wine racks must be designed in such a way that it is easy to retrieve wine bottles. It will also be helpful if labels are easily visible for quick retrieval and monitoring of bottles if needed. Near the wine racks, it is advisable to have a serving or decanting area. This can be useful when entertaining and showing off your wine collection. It is also used for wine tasting. You may also opt for wine racks that come with a tabletop.

Proper Wine Cellar Lighting

WC LIGHTING OCT24There should be proper wine cellar lighting. Wines are sensitive to light, and therefore the lighting system must be subdued and placed where bottles will not be directly illuminated. Light and heat will change the chemistry of wines. This explains why wine bottles are dark in color. Usually, the glass is thick to prevent the liquid from getting warm easily.

One’s wine cellar must reflect his personality. It can come out in choice of color scheme, design, purpose, and works of art displayed. However, it is not advisable to place a lot of art inside the wine cellar. One focal point is enough. After all, the stars of the wine cellars are the bottles displayed.

Keeping these basic features in mind will help you create and design a functioning Vancouver wine cellar; one that is carefully planned to serve its primary purpose.

Blue Grouse Wine Cellars Vancouver has expertise in assisting their clients in their wine storage projects. Visit their website at http://bluegrousewinecellars.com/ or call them at 1.888.400.CORK (2675).

Proper Sealing of Florida Custom Wine Cellars

Written by

Wine cellars are essential when you want to get serious with your wine collection. Wine is a delicate and complex substance, and it requires just the right elements to come together to make sure that it is stored well and aged properly.

Options have been made available on the market that will help aspiring wine collectors replicate the ideal conditions in the wine cellars in the chilly French countryside.

When constructing a wine cellar, you must ensure that the crucial conditions for proper wine preservation are present. Two important facets of proper wine cellar construction are installing a proper vapor barrier and making sure the doors, walls, and windows are completely sealed.

Things to Keep in Mind in Sealing Florida Wine Cellars

Vapor Barrier 

 A vapor barrier keeps the warm air from the outside or from adjacent rooms from seeping through the walls of your wine cellar. If this happens, condensation will occur, and over the course of time cause mildew and mold to form inside your cellar, affecting wine’s quality.

The vapor barrier stops this from happening. You can typically use a 6-8 mm plastic sheet for the vapor barrier, available in most Home Depots. They should be wrapped around your wine cellar on the warm side of the insulation. Note that the cool side of the wall is the one which actually encloses your wine collection. This essentially covers your wine collection from heat and humidity.

Wine Cellar Door 

Another aspect of sealing your wine cellar is making sure that your wine cellar door is airtight. The wine cellar door should be weather-stripped on all four sides of the door jam. There should be a bottom door-sweep to prevent outside air from flowing into your wine cellar when the door is closed. Solid core doors or full glass doors are recommended. But, if you prefer a glass door, it should have double-pane insulated tapered glass. Premium grade silicone caulk must be used to seal door casing to the wall.

Window 

Just as your wine cellar entryway, the windows must also be sealed. The use of quality insulated glass, good sealant, and a high quality frame is recommended. A reliable window foam sealant is recommended to prevent the intrusion of warm air, thus preventing wine faults.

Walls 

Other ways you can ensure an airtight wine cellar is to build an extra wall that is made out of waterproof materials and leave a 1cm airpocket in between the two walls. Another way is to apply polyurethane on the wall that is already there and then cover it with cement and plaster panels.

Sealing is very important to make sure that your wine cellar cooling system will be able to perform its job efficiently which is to maintain the ideal temperature and humidity in your Florida custom wine room. This is especially critical if you live in an area with a warm climate such as Florida. Florida wine cellar owners need to make sure that their cellars are completely sealed in order to protect their wines from harmful external factors.

Wine Cellar International is a Florida wine cellar builder that offers its clients the best wine storage solutions available. Visit their website at http://www.winecellarinternational.com/ for more information about their products and services.

 

Essential Elements of a Custom Wine Cellar in Canada

Written by

The design and construction of a custom wine cellar in Vancouver, Canada should be well thought out, so that it can meet the essential requirements for proper wine storage. The following are the basic parts of a custom wine cellar and how they should ideally be.

1. Wine Cellar Walls & Ceiling

Wine cellars in Canada should be properly insulated. Wine cellar insulation should be at least R20, so that the temperature and humidity levels are kept from fluctuating. The interior walls of your custom wine cellar should be as inert as possible. Many wine cellar specialists would advise choosing Urethane for your cellar insulation, because it is efficient in sealing the walls and ceiling. Mineral wood is good to use too, but it should be properly protected from humidity, because otherwise it will lose its capacity to insulate after some time. Rigid insulation panels are a good idea as well.

To maintain the level of humidity in the wine storage room, a vapor-seal is essential. Make sure that your vapor-seal sheets overlap and are secured with adhesive tapes.

The paint used on the walls and ceilings of your wine cellar should be of mold-resistant latex. Bathroom paint is the best option.

In order to make room for a wine cellar cooling unit to be installed, avoid cellars that are completely surrounded by concrete.

2. Custom Wine Cellar Door

In order to ensure that the temperature and humidity in the wine cellar are stable, an insulated door equipped with weather stripping should be utilized. Cellar doors ought to be at least R16 insulation. Tell your wine cellar designer to have a window or a thermal glass on your door so that you may be able to see your wine collection inside the cellar without needing to open it.

Some people opt to have a lock on their wine cellar door, so that they can control access to the wine cellar. This also is a good idea, so that you can control how often the wine cellar is opened. Constant opening of a wine cellar in Vancouver, Canada can cause temperature and humidity fluctuations that are harmful to your wines.

3. Wine Cellar Flooring

There are various options to choose from when it comes to custom wine cellar flooring. The material you use should be resistant to humidity. Stones, ceramic tiles and marble are humidity resistant materials. If you want to use wood for cellar flooring, make sure that it is sealed properly, so that it won’t absorb humidity.

If you plan to construct your custom wine cellar in your basement, you can make use of the soil’s natural humidity by putting holes through the concrete basement floor. But before that, you have to make sure that the soil is not water logged and that there is enough drainage beneath the basement’s foundation to avoid water infiltration. You may also put holes in the cellar walls to increase the humidity level by 1 to 2 degrees. Don’t forget to cover the holes in order to keep insects out.

4. Custom Wine Cellar Lighting

The lighting you choose for your wine cellar in Vancouver, Canada should be that which generates minimal heat. Heat can damage your wines. The best type of lighting for wine storage rooms is LED. Some wines are not favorable to light. Light dimmers are recommended, so that you can adjust the light as needed.

5. Wine Cellar Cooling System

A quality wine cellar refrigeration unit can set the temperature and humidity inside your custom wine cellar to the ideal levels. There are various kinds of wine cellar cooling units. A wine cellar specialist can calculate the heat load in your wine storage room, so that you can identify the appropriate wine cellar refrigeration system for your cellar.

How To Store Wines in Florida

Written by

Wine is one of God’s gifts to men. It is a wonderful beverage, meant to be enjoyed and shared with friends and family. It is one of tastiest beverages. In order to make sure that wine tastes good, it is very important that you understand the essentials of wine storage. Here are the basics to keeping wine.

KEEP WINE COOL

There is nothing more damaging to wine than heat! When the temperature is above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, wine ages prematurely. This, in turn, causes it to taste awful. The ideal temperature range to store wine in is between 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

COOL IS GOOD BUT TOO COOL IS HARMFUL

A regular household refrigerator is not ideal for wine storage. The average refrigerator is configured to store perishable goods and other food items. The temperature in a regular fridge can fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. A temperature this low can cause the wine corks to eventually dry out, thus allowing air to seep into the bottle and ruin the wine.

Wines should never be kept in locations where they could freeze. Wine expands when it turns to ice. When it expands, it may push the cork out of the bottle.

To provide the right temperature for wine, you need a custom wine cellar with a wine cellar refrigeration unit installed. Only a wine cooling unit can provide the right temperature for wine storage with minimal to no fluctuations.

LIGHTS OUT PLEASE!

Ultraviolet light is another enemy of wine. Ultraviolet light degrades the quality of wine by causing premature aging. This is the reason why wine bottles are dark tinted; wine has to be protected from this kind of light. Sunlight and fluorescent lights emit ultraviolet light. LED lights are the best option for custom wine cellars in Miami, Florida.

HUMIDITY MATTERS

Ideally, wines should be kept in a wine cellar in Florida that has a humidity level anywhere between 50 to 80 percent. Too humid of a location can allow mold and mildew formation. Although mold and mildew may not necessarily affect wines that have been sealed properly, it can most certainly damage wine labels. Humidity levels that are too low can dry out corks and cause the oxidation of the wines.

GO SIDEWAYS!

Having your wine bottles rest sideways on your wine racks has two benefits. First, it makes sure that the wines are in constant contact with the corks, to prevent them from drying out. Second, horizontal wine racking saves a lot of space. This is especially good for those who want to store hundreds to thousands of wines.

NO SHAKING

Constant vibrations can be damaging to wines because shaking speeds up many chemical reactions in the wine. This, in turn, causes wine to age prematurely. Keep wines in a wine storage room that protects it from vibration.

Wine Cellars International provides more tips on how to build the perfect wine storage rooms for your beloved wines. They offer various kinds of custom wine cellars in Miami, as well as different designs of wine racks.