Why did I decide to build a home wine cellar? I have posted my detailed thoughts on the Why Build a Wine Cellar page, but there is one main reason: convenience. There are many other reasons, such as the ability to buy wine while it is young and inexpensive so that you can consume it when it is mature and more valuable, but for me, convenience is the number one reason for building a basement wine cellar.
I don’t know what we will be having for dinner next week, so if I don’t have a ready wine supply in the cellar it’s difficult to know what I should buy in advance. With an in home wine cellar, I can select a wine from my inventory five minutes before we sit down to eat. It will already be chilled and ready to go. (White wines may require further chilling, and old red wines may require decanting, but you get the idea: the wine is there when I need it). That’s convenient.
If we need a bottle to bring to a dinner party, or a bottle to give as a gift, they are there and ready to go. Convenience.
If we have guests and we polish off a bottle of wine and everyone raves about it, not problem, I have more of that exact wine in the cellar. I grab another bottle and off we go.
So, if convenience is important to you, storing wine at home is the way to go.