Cellar Stories If as Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Wine is bottled poetry", Dr. Mel Koby eschewed building a few shelves on which to display his prized volumes in favor of creating an entire library that's meant to be used and savored.
Koby's library features not the works of Yeats, Frost and Whitman, but an enviable collection of wines from around the globe, those from some of the world's most well known producers as well as an intriguing selection of newly discovered gems.
"I started collecting wine about twelve years ago. I'm still learning, and that's what's so much fun," says Koby, partner in Koby Karp Doctors Eye Institute. When he began building a new home and decided to convert part of the lower level to a café and wine cellar, he relied on the design expertise of The Wine Enthusiast.
Understanding that he wanted a 2,000 bottle capacity and a wine cellar that blended aesthetics and functionality, The Wine Enthusiast submitted several different plans from which Koby selected his preferred version. "I had originally thought about having an area inside the actual wine cellar where guests could sit and enjoy the wines, but decided against it because most people don't think drinking wine in a room that's 54 degrees is all that relaxing," he laughs.
A custom designed leaded glass door with a grapevine motif opens from the adjacent café into the wine cellar in which a redwood racking system holds the wine that's maintained at the constant temperature by a refrigeration unit. Outside the wine cellar, the café is designed for relaxing and entertaining. It includes a mini-kitchen, pub tables and chairs, sofa, lacquered goat skin coffee table, camel skin ottoman and a humidor. Alabaster sconces and recessed lights provide optimal light for a cozy ambience.
He says the final cost of the wine cellar was slightly higher than he originally anticipated but that it was well worth it and thinks of the process as an interesting learning experience. "It was fascinating to watch the room be wrapped in plastic, then insulated, then dry walled with a waterproof drywall, then coated with another waterproof substance. Also, we had to ensure that there was enough space for the exhaust for the refrigeration unit." Still, Koby isn't quite finished, saying that he's currently researching computer systems to catalog his wines.
What words of wisdom does he have about creating a wine cellar? "First, when designing the cellar, be sure to give yourself room to move around to locate the varietals and bottles. Second, anticipate having more wine than you'll think you'll put in the cellar. Once you start collecting and aging, you'll probably start busting at the seams. It's important to drink each wine at the appropriate time. Different wines age at different rates. Every wine has a birth, adolescence, maturity, senility and death. If you drink it when it's mature and ready, it's wonderful. When it gets past that, it loses some of its virtues."
Koby joins a cadre of wine aficionados who are having wine cellars designed in both newly constructed and remodeled homes. "Wine cellars have evolved from amenities for the wealthy to something that can be found in houses at a variety of price ranges. During this evolution, people have realized that a wine cellar doesn't have to be 'in the cellar' and that it can reflect a wide array of design. A wine cellar may be installed in a large room in the basement, in a smaller area under the stairs, or in a room that's climate controlled elsewhere in the house. The use of limestone, brick, wrought iron and natural stone helps give the look of a traditional wine cellar," suggests Carl Baker, president of Sterling Development.
He says the cost of a wine cellar can range from a few thousand dollars to a hundred thousand dollars, depending on the design and features. "If someone enjoys wine but isn't interested in spending a lot of money either on the wine itself or the wine cellar, he or she may not need to build the cellar to maintain the absolute temperature and humidity. But if you plan to collect expensive wines, temperature and humidity control are essential. Otherwise, you'll end up with some very expensive vinegar," notes Baker.
"Each situation is unique, but for a passive cellar that would store 1,000 - 1,500 bottles and doesn't use refrigeration, a budget of $2,500 - $10,000 in racking systems would be in the ballpark. To refrigerate the same space would require an expenditure of $10,000 - $25,000 or more," says Brett Norris, regional design consultant in Kentucky and Tennessee for Wine Cellar Innovations, a Cincinnati company that specializes in wine cellar design and cellar products.
Although the type of wood used in a wine cellar may vary, redwood is most popular. Other acceptable woods are poplar, red oak, amber blaze mahogany, African mahogany, black walnut, cherry, and maple. Those woods are sometimes selected because they match wood used in other rooms of the home.
"Redwood is most often the wood of choice because it's nonaromatic, meaning that the wine won't take on an odor. Also, redwood is naturally moisture resistant which is very important because humidity is of prime concern. The relative humidity in a wine cellar should be 55 - 75 percent, making it a unique environment. Most other rooms in a home are 30 percent and below. Humidity levels of 80 percent or higher will cause mold to form and rot the labels. Lower levels will draw wine out of the bottle and be replaced with oxygen rich air," says Norris.
Wine Cellar Innovations designed a 3,000 bottle wine cellar for Charlie Brown, partner in Brown Noltemeyer, who had a carpenter install the various components. "I've been seriously enjoying wine for about 30 years and have visited most of the wine producing regions of the world. I've found that visiting vineyards adds such an interesting dimension to a vacation," says Brown.
His wine cellar is compartmentalized. A table and chairs and old art glass lend a special character to a tasting area in which the Browns often entertain guests. That area is adjacent to the climate controlled room where the wine is stored. To add a distinguishing character to the space, Brown commissioned a mural that shows scenes of people at the crush, depicting the labor involved in producing wine. 
Some wine lovers may double as do-it-themselves and may consider tackling the construction of the cellar themselves. Is that a good idea or a risky proposition? Brett Norris says, "If you really know what you're doing, the room construction isn't too difficult. It mainly involves framing, insulating and installing a vapor barrier. The electrical and plumbing are minimal." If constructing your own wine cellar still seems like a daunting task, take heart. Wine Cellar Innovations provides detailed on-line guidelines that take you through flooring, walls, electrical, lighting, insulation and even windows. But Norris says his customers sometimes don't exactly follow the guidelines or miss a critical step such as the vapor barrier, a critically important element because of its ability to retard mold growth.
He says that when building a new home, it's never too early to start planning the wine cellar. Unfortunately, people often wait until the end of the construction. That makes it much more difficult, and sometimes costly, to plan for refrigeration.
"Even more challenging than building a wine cellar in a new home is remodeling an existing space to house the cellar. A home owner may have a closet on the first floor or a space downstairs that seems to be a good location for a wine cellar. However, they may not understand the necessity of, or may not want to get involved in, the demolition that's necessary. If you're committed to a refrigerated wine cellar, you have to be committed to demolishing the existing walls and building proper ones.
Jerry Rogers, wine guru and owner of Party Mart, advises people considering building a wine cellar to ask themselves some simple questions: How much room do you have to dedicate to the wine cellar? How much wine do you really need and want to store? Do you want a room to store wine treasures for a long time or do you plan to drink what you buy in a relatively short time? Most of all, what do you like to drink? If you like Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay, you don't really need a wine cellar because they're not made for long time cellaring.
"Don't get carried away. Don't buy what you won't drink. It's a pity and a sacrilege to pour wonderful wines down the drain because you've saved them for a special occasion that never happened. I think every day is a special occasion. If you buy it, drink it. The thing that makes a great wine cellar is to have wines in it that you really enjoy. If your palate isn't suited to a certain wine, don't buy it. What's the point?" he says.
It's not surprising that Rogers knew exactly what he wanted for his own wine cellar. "What I love about my cellar is that it's functional. Everything gets rotated and we drink all the wines. Approximately 6' x 8', it holds about 330 bottles in a redwood racking system, so it's not terribly large, but it looks fantastic. I was especially fortunate that my contractor located a slate that has a really cool appearance that reflects its mineral composition," says Rogers.
If you want a wine cellar but don't want to be bothered with demolition or construction, techno wizards (and a few wine lovers, no doubt) at GE may have the answer to your dilemma and the wine cellar of your dreams. The GE Monogram Wine Vault is as sleek and stunning as it is smart. Resembling a bank vault, it's a steel room that holds 1,100 bottles of wine, all stored on redwood racks. But Joe Dumstorf, president of The Trend, says that storage is only part of The Wine Vault's story. It inventories the wine using touch screen software, a bar code scanner and label printer. The digital cooling system allows you to select temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees. You won't have to worry about what you paid for a bottle (ore more than a thousand bottles). The Wine Vault's amazing mind does that for you. If you can't remember which wine was the perfect accompaniment to your favorite Steak au Poivre, don't worry. Just touch the screen to view prices and your tasting notes. And the electronic database lets you know when each bottle is at its peak, ready to drink, or "in decline". Keep in mind that the Wine Vault is a real room, so you'll get to select features such as hardwood, tile or cork flooring.
When he isn't drinking wine at home, Jerry Rogers is thinking about it at work. In addition to advising customers about wine selections, he also is quick to stress the importance of choosing high quality wine glasses and those whose shapes best enhance the character of an individual varietal of wine. To illustrate his point, he says, "One night at a friend's house we were drinking a marvelous Harlan Cabernet. Our host ran out of Cabernet glasses so I drank mine out of a Pinot Noir glass. Then I traded glasses with my wife who was drinking out of a Cabernet glass. The difference was dramatic. The Pinot Noir glass emphasized the fruit considerably more than the Cabernet glass. So if you're going to have a wine cellar with good wines, by all means, get the right glasses."
