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A wine cellar all your own
You know you've become a serious wine collector when the storage options available in your home just aren't adequate. Thinking back, Craig MacAllister recalls cases of fine Italian Borolo -- the really hard-to-find reserva -- casually parked in an unused corner of his basement; exceptional French Bordeaux on open racks as room temperatures rose.
It's not that an ad hoc system doesn't suffice for a month or two. But when you become a collector — the whole point is to have choices. You always want a truly sublime vintage, in stock and appropriately aged, to make a perfect match for a wine dinner you've been thinking about for years. It would make no sense to be so under-equipped that you're not protecting your assets.
"Obviously temperature control is essential to keeping wines drinkable over the years," MacAllister explained. "If wines are not kept properly they can go bad. So one of the major satisfactions to collecting is procuring fine wines before they mature. When wines are cellared properly they age into a perfect expression of their best characteristics. This is when a wine becomes an exceptional complement to specific foods."
Though MacAllister and his wife, Diane, didn't really become committed oenophiles until the kids had grown up and moved on, the couple's passion for fine wines developed quickly when they started visiting wineries in southern California, Germany and here in Virginia.
As the collection grew, MacAllister researched several refrigerated cabinet options before deciding that there was just no substitute for a real wine cellar. Moreover, he envisioned a room spacious enough for the occasional soiree with, say, 10 to 15 guests dining on shrimp and cheese, sampling chardonnay and comparing tasting notes.
As the dream's details came together, however, the more practical question was whether the couple's two-story center hall Colonial could even accommodate it.
True, the home has a spacious lower level -- partly finished -- that already featured an exercise area, a billiards parlor and a handsomely appointed bar. And it certainly made sense to have the wine cellar in the midst of all the action.
But the problem MacAllister foresaw was that the unfinished part of the lower level was scarcely accessible. The hot water heater, furnace and sump pump -- not to mention a tangle of ducting -- loudly claimed the targeted 170 square feet of unfinished basement as a virtual utility room. The walls in this portion of the lower level were exposed cinder block. Between the ductwork and the utility equipment it was hard to find space for a few loose crates -- let alone 1,400 bottles.
It was at this point that MacAllister decided to consult remodeling firm Michael Nash Kitchens and Homes.
"I knew my situation called for real space planning skills," MacAllister said.
Shawn Nazemian, a designer and project manager with Michael Nash, said the most pressing feasibility issue in the home was determining how best to reconfigure the major infrastructure systems for the entire house.
"Over half of the lower level was already built-out. We needed a detailed schematic that would show us how to reposition most of the energy appliances -- even working around units that had nowhere else to go," Nazemian said. "We also needed a practical way to route coolant drain-off -- which is essential to a well-maintained cellar."
Once alternative utility locations were identified, Nazemian's next step was waterproofing and insulating the basement's perimeter.
"A thermally efficient membrane is essential to a wine cellar's performance," Nazemian said. "It's important that the compressor -- which was designed to keep temperatures and humidity consistent -- won't be overtasked."
To keep temperatures regulated, the cellar is equipped with its own thermostat. Humidity must remain in the 50-70 percent range with temperatures at about 58 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Even the custom-designed, frosted glass door that leads into the cellar is sealed to keep the cool air in.
To accommodate drainage, Nazemian specified a "split cooling" system that ties in with the existing HVAC. The existing electrical system, however, proved adequate to all the new power needs.
Shelling-in the 13-by-12 foot area designated for the cellar required some unusually precise fabrications. Nazemian custom-fitted storage racks around mid-ceiling bulkheading he created to re-route ducting and -- as a final nod to the ambiance -- faux-painted sections of the new ceiling to resemble wine barrels. On a similar note, Nazemian created access to fixed utility units through a lacquered mahogany door undetectably integrated into the tasting room's interior elevations.
Despite the expertly executed craftsmanship underlying a floor plan more intricate than it seems, the resulting facility is warmly inviting; a cozy spot for gathering with friends; a perfect complement to adjacent adult activity zones.
The cellar's focal point is a granite "tasting table" with a barrel-carved edge set off by a lacquered backbar festooned with a carved grape and vine motif. The MacAllisters selected this decorative element, the floor tiling and many other interior details in the Michael Nash Show room in Fairfax. Ditto the LED lighting, which makes it easy to read wine bottle labels still in their racks.
"The showroom made the selection process easy for us," MacAllister recalled. "You could look at dozens of styles of cabinets, flooring tiles, counter surfaces and paint samples, and see for yourself how they'll look in relation to each other. Very convenient."
John Byrd works for Home Fronts News and can be reached at byrdmatx@comcast.net.
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