Why Build a Wine Cellar?
Why build a wine cellar? Before we answer that question, the first question to answer is: why store wine? Which of course leads to the question: how much wine do I consume?
If you like the occasional bottle of wine when you have friends over, and if you consume a case or two of wine a year, there is little point in storing wine at home. It’s much easier, and cheaper, to simply visit your local wine store the day of your party and pick up what you need.
If you consume wine more frequently, storing wine at home makes sense. My wife and I like to have a bottle of wine with our meal on Friday and Saturday night, and we will have the occasional glass during the week, and we will have wine when we have guests. For that level of consumption, a stand alone cooling unit is sufficient.
We purchased our first unit, and as our collection expanded we added a second unit. Each unit can easily hold 75 bottles, so two units give us a 150 bottle capacity. If your annual consumption is 75 bottles or less, a stand alone cooling unit is a good solution. In fact, even if you consume more than that, many of the wines you drink may not require extended storage, so one cooling unit may be sufficient.
The type of wine you drink is a key consideration. If you prefer wine wines, or wines best consumed young, there is no need for long term storage. However, if you are partial to full bodied reds that are best consumed after an extended period of storage, you need more storage capacity.
Here’s the math: If you consume 2 bottles per week, that’s about 100 bottles per year. If you add in the occasional party where more wine is consumed, you may be consuming 150 or 200 bottles per year. If your favoured wine is best after five years of “laying down”, you need the ability to store 200 x 5 years worth of bottles, or 1,000 bottles in total. Obviously a 75 bottle wine cooler is not the correct solution.
1. A wine cellar allows you to consume expensive wines inexpensively
Young wine is relatively inexpensive. An excellent wine may be released at an age of one or two years old for $25 per bottle. If the wine is best consumed at ten years of age, the bottle may be worth $100 when fully mature. By cellaring the wine yourself, you can drink expensive wine for a fraction of the cost.
If you have a wine cellar you will be purchasing wines by the case, in many cases (no pun intended) directly from the producer, or from a distributor. Buying by the case reduces the cost per bottle, which also saves money.
2. You can drink wine that may not be available for sale
You save money drinking your ten year old bottle of wine, but equally importantly you are drinking wine that may not be for sale at any price. You may not be able to visit your local wine merchant and purchase a ten year old bottle of wine. They stock the wine and sell it. In most cases they don’t want to store the wine for ten years. By storing the wine yourself, you can drink wine that is otherwise not available.
3. Compare wines over the years
I keep track of my wines, and make notes when I consume them. If you buy wines by the case, you can compare how a wine tastes with each successive year, and over time you will learn which wines improve with age, and which wines are best consumed young.
4. Great for parties
What do you do if you are having a party, and you want to serve four bottles of an excellent five year old red wine? By buying wines by the case and storing them you will have a ready supply of the quantity you need, when you need it.
5. Convenience
All of the above reasons are important, but for me the most important reason for having a wine cellar is convenience. After a long day at work we sit down for dinner, and my wife asks me to select a wine for dinner. By having a well stocked wine cellar I know that regardless of what we will be eating, I can find a suitable wine. I don’t have to worry about running out to the store to get wine; it’s already here, chilled and ready.
If our neigbours invite us over for a drink, it’s easy to pop into the wine cellar and grab a bottle. Going to a party? Need a bottle of wine to give as a gift? No problem. There will be something perfect in the cellar. (I may even be able to check my database to see what wine the person had when they were last at my house, and give them a bottle I know they will enjoy).
In summary, there are many reasons to have a home wine cellar. You can save money and have a ready supply of wine when needed. And, of course, it’s satisfying to know you actually have your own wine cellar.