This One's Too Cold 
Friday, March 24, 2006, 10:10 AM - Wine Storage, What Not to Do, Enjoying Your Cellar
Cool temperature lengthens the maturing age of your bigger wines (not necessarily your better wines). Now this is subjective, some people like their wine young, where some people like it mature, but mature wine is more much subtle. With proper aging, different tastes come out. If the temperature is too cold, the flavors connot develop properly and you really lose the value of your bigger wines and your better wines.
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Children and Wine Cellars 
Thursday, March 9, 2006, 01:46 AM - Wine Storage, What Not to Do
Children can do a lot of damage to themselves and to the wine in a poorly designed cellar or storage area. They break bottles, try to climb racks and can get very seriously hurt if racks fall on top of them or if glass breaks. Make sure you have a deadbolt lock on that door and a key where they can't reach it (or for older kids, find it). You don't want children accidentally locking themselves in either, which could have tragic results. Use the same caution you would use with any large refrigerator or freezer, keep it locked, keep kids away, and make sure people can't lock themselves inside.
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Why Shrinkage is Bad. 
Sunday, February 12, 2006, 10:24 AM - Wine Storage, What Not to Do
You store a bottle vertically, shrinkage occurs in the cork because no wine (moisture) is there to keep it full. So air enters through the space around the cork and your wine oxidizes. Oxidized wine is vinegar. Now I love a good vinegar for cooking, but not so much in my glass.
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Budgeting for a Wine Cellar 
Sunday, February 5, 2006, 12:53 AM
Think of it this way: you are building an addition on your home, it just happens to be on the inside. By the time you do your refrigeration, your racking, your vapor barrier, your flooring and your doors, you basically have built a valuable addition within your house. You can easily spend $50-60 thousand adding a room to the outside, and not add that much value to your home. The serious collector has spent a huge amount on their wine and is basically gambling if it's not stored properly.

The other thing not to skimp on is capacity. Don't just think about how much wine you own now, think about how long you have been collecting, and how much longer you will continue to collect. You may have built up your collection quickly, and it may continue to double or more in the foreseeable future. Even if you have been at it a while, remember that many of those wines will be with you a long time. You would hate to have to hurry up and drink your classics to make room for new vintages you would like to own.
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Vapor Barriers 
Saturday, January 14, 2006, 10:19 AM - Wine Storage, Cellar Features, What Not to Do
What many builders don't realize is that the vapor barrier is an integral part of construction of the cellar. It stops warm outside air from entering and cool inside air from leaving because when the two mix, you get moisture. Warm, cold, moisture, condensation, BOOM you get MOLD. You don't want mold in your cellar. You also don't want the humidity level to fluctuate or dry out because you don't want the corks to dry out. So if the builder wants to sell you a "wine cellar" in your new home, make sure it's not just another room with some refrigeration added.
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