I am located in Hamilton, Ontario. My current "cellar" consists of 2 72
bottle Ikea wine racks against a below grade outside basement wall with room
for case storage right next to them. Ambient temperature year round is
quite stable and stays within a couple degrees of 68F. Winter humidity is
kept well up in the human comfort zone by use of a free standing home
humidifier.

My problem? I am going to build a "real" wine "cellar/storage" area in the
basement that will be both functional and decorative. Given that I BUY only
Canadian, primarily Ontario, wines, some of which might age 6 - 8 years at
most and with the increasing popularity of screw cap closures do I really
need to enclose and insulate it and buy a unit to more closely regulate
temperature and humidity?

Informed opinions and advice solicited. TIA.
--
Regards
Chuck
So much wine; So little time!

To reply, delete NOSPAM from return address

My personal opinion is that for your needs it sounds like a cooling system
would be a bit redundant. And I wouldn't go too crazy over humidity with a max
8 years cellaring.

But if you're building, it's not very expensive and should give you some peace
of mind to put in insulation. In a similar situation, this year I built a
passive cellar in a corner. I framed and put in R-19 insulation in interior
walls, R-30 in ceiling, left below grade walls and concrete floor as heat
sinks. I couldn't fit an insulated exterior door in space (low ceilings), so I
put an interior door in, then drilled holes to put in expanding foam
insulation, then put 2" extruded foam insulation panel on inside. Vapor
barrier, drywall. I had my stepson do a creative paint job. And then put
shelves on outside So far so good. The highest it got was 68° F at eye level
during a heatwave when I was working installing some bins and a shelf for
halfbottles. We'll see next year if there's a more sustained heatwave how I
fare.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

In article >, dwmidnt@aol.
comdamnspam says...
>
>My personal opinion is that for your needs it sounds like a cooling system
>would be a bit redundant. And I wouldn't go too crazy over humidity with a
max
>8 years cellaring.
>
>But if you're building, it's not very expensive and should give you some
peace
>of mind to put in insulation. In a similar situation, this year I built a
>passive cellar in a corner. I framed and put in R-19 insulation in interior
>walls, R-30 in ceiling, left below grade walls and concrete floor as heat
>sinks. I couldn't fit an insulated exterior door in space (low ceilings), so
I
>put an interior door in, then drilled holes to put in expanding foam
>insulation, then put 2" extruded foam insulation panel on inside. Vapor
>barrier, drywall. I had my stepson do a creative paint job. And then put
>shelves on outside So far so good. The highest it got was 68° F at eye level
>during a heatwave when I was working installing some bins and a shelf for
>halfbottles. We'll see next year if there's a more sustained heatwave how I
>fare.
>Dale
>
>Dale Williams
>Drop "damnspam" to reply

Very similar treatment to a similar space I had in Colorado, which worked fine
for about fifteen years. In my case, I did have to shut off all heat outlets
in basement, but I was able to keep the space at around 65F with very slow
fluctuations year-round. Now, AZ, that's another problem all together!
Depending on the heating system, and how the rest of the space is used, a
little more insulation for the interior walls might be considered.

Hunt

I am literally as we speak in the process of excavating at the rear of our
home a 8m x 4.5x x 3.6m (deep) cellar. Whilst this is perhaps a little more
than what most people will attempt, let's just say that good cellaring is
worth every penny..

"Chuck Reid" > wrote in message
...
>I am located in Hamilton, Ontario. My current "cellar" consists of 2 72
> bottle Ikea wine racks against a below grade outside basement wall with
> room
> for case storage right next to them. Ambient temperature year round is
> quite stable and stays within a couple degrees of 68F. Winter humidity is
> kept well up in the human comfort zone by use of a free standing home
> humidifier.
>
> My problem? I am going to build a "real" wine "cellar/storage" area in
> the
> basement that will be both functional and decorative. Given that I BUY
> only
> Canadian, primarily Ontario, wines, some of which might age 6 - 8 years at
> most and with the increasing popularity of screw cap closures do I really
> need to enclose and insulate it and buy a unit to more closely regulate
> temperature and humidity?
>
> Informed opinions and advice solicited. TIA.
> --
> Regards
> Chuck
> So much wine; So little time!
>
> To reply, delete NOSPAM from return address
>
>

"Peter White" > wrote in message
...
>> Given that I BUY only
>> Canadian, primarily Ontario, wines, some of which might age 6 - 8 years
>> at
>> most and with the increasing popularity of screw cap closures do I really
>> need to enclose and insulate it and buy a unit to more closely regulate
>> temperature and humidity?

There's no reason to worry about humidity if you're storing screw capped
bottles. In fact, I don't think humidity is all that terribly significant
with cork finished wines either - but that's a much more controversial
issue.

Tom S