A serious business

For some collectors, it's the thrill of finding and trying new wines, while for others, the excitement may be in tracking down rare or precious vintages. But for everyone who collects wine, rather than simply buying it to drink, a wine cellar is far more than a mere storage facility.

Interior designer Bill Cook was called in to design this wine cellar for a homeowner who had had a cellar in his previous house, and wanted the new space to feel like a wine library.

"It had to be a collector's gallery, not just a place in which to store wine," says Cook. "It needed to express the personality of the collector and to be an attractive room. We also wanted it to look like a dark, underground cellar."

Because the owner also collects antiques, the room is full of interesting objects connected with winemaking old French wine vessels, barrels and antique glasses. Even the tasting table in the center of the cellar is an old wine-barrel holder, topped with glass to transform it into a table.

A gilt-framed painting of Bacchanalian revels, which had hung in the owner's previous wine cellar, dictated the color scheme. A Sumack rug and an antique upholstered chair pick up the reds, blues, golds and browns in the painting.

These colors add warmth to the dark tones of the wine racks, which are made from heart redwood. Racks for single bottle storage are built on a 15° angle and are lit from behind, while much of the space below table height is designed for storage of cases of wine such as Bordeaux, which come boxed in wood. Each shelf has its own set of runners so boxes can be pulled in and out smoothly and easily. A wide ledge above this makes a convenient bench for standing and opening bottles.

To ensure the wine is stored in optimum conditions, a split refrigeration system, with a condenser in a remote location and an evaporation coil in the cellar, controls temperature and humidity. While the room is generally too cool for sitting in, the heat can be turned up if required.

Story by: Mary Webb