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| Midsouth Living Article This article is from the January/February 2003 issue of Midsouth Living Magazine. )
In the past four years we've seen a large increase in the amount of people interested in putting a wine cellar in their home, says Robert Sbravati, owner of Wine Cellar Solutions, Memphis' only wine cellar design and installation company. Although temperature control and storage are big elements in wine cellars, Sbravati says, "it's more about aesthetics now than basic storage." In the past, wine collectors were more likely to buy a kit and install a wine storage area in a closet within their homes, but now wine cellars and wine rooms are becoming part of the home, a showplace and a focal point for entertaining. "Builders are including them more now next to media rooms or bars in high-end custom homes," says Sbravati. The key mechanics of a wine cellar are its cooling and racking systems. The custom cooling systems control humidity and keep the room at a temperature between 53 and 55 degrees. Racking varies in design, but about 90 percent is made from heart of pine redwood and milled to the specifications of the wine cellar's design. "Redwood has a natural resistance to moisture," says Sbravati, which keeps the wood from contracting and swelling and contributes to its longevity." The design of a wine cellar depends largely on the goals of the homeowner. "You can spend a little bit of money, get a how-to book, and do it yourself, or you can get really elaborate and spend several thousand dollars putting one in," says Memphis-based custom builder Keith Allen. )  When you enter Mark and Suzanne Massey's French Country style home in Germantown, the last think you expect as you round the corner to go into the study is the wine room that Sbravati installed in the home in 1999."I wanted a classic Old World 19th-century wine cellar look," says Massey, who picked up wine collecting from his grandfather and began his own collection of wines from the Bordeaux region of France in 1986. The room is approximately 80 square feet complete with a variety of 18-inch racking on all three walls. The flooring is made from irregular shaped limestone tiles, and the walls are a deep red tone lit with four small halogen can lights that lend the ambiance of an old wine cellar one might find in a French chateaux. A mid-19th-century wine tasting table from France sits in the middle of the room for use in wine tastings with friends and intimate dinners. The room, which holds 2,100 bottles of wine, is complete with single storage racking, diamond-shaped bins, and case bins for a variety of storage and display options. The Massey's wine room is personalized with the display of stem wear above a small oil painting centered on the main wall. Built into the racking is a small bookshelf with books on the Bordeaux region of France. Mounted on the walls and racks around the room are a weathered map of the Bordeaux region, wrought iron candle holder sconces and a painted plaque that hangs in the room which says, "A meal without wine is breakfast."  In this East Memphis Tuscan-style home, the wine cellar is in the expected place off a living area in the basement of the home, but the home itself is anything but expected."The project started off small," says Memphis-based custom builder Keith Allen, who worked with the homeowners throughout the complete renovation of the home. "They wanted an inconspicuous location to store some wines, and the only place we could find was the crawlspace area under the house." ) Instead, Allen ended up excavating the crawl space, supporting the main house, taking out all of the footing and foundation, and putting in a basement under an existing home.The finished product is an Old World Italian-style wine cellar and kitchen area adjacent to an equally styled living space which pours our onto a stone-terraced patio area in the back of the house, the entire space reminiscent of a Tuscan villa. "This is more of an entertaining type of wine cellar," says Allen. "It becomes part of the living space; it's in sight and the focal point of a gathering area." The wine cellar is in the corner of the catacomb-like basement along one wall and concealed by insulated glass framed by planks of dark rustic wood. The walls within the cellar, as in the rest of the basement area, are stucco; the flooring throughout is marble tile, and the racking system is made of redwood. In this particular cellar, a self-contained cooling unit is concealed behind the wall, giving the illusion of a naturally controlled environment. Outside the glass that contains the wine is an antique wine table, and the walls are flanked with distressed cabinets, which hide modern conveniences such as a refrigerator, refrigerated drawers, stem wear, a trash compactor, and an ice machine, all of which make entertaining in the wine cellar a snap, while staying true to the rustic design of the space. )  Carol and Al Larocca, owners of Star Distributors, mid-South fine wine and spirits distributor, decided a few years ago that they needed a wine room with atmosphere within their industrial warehouse setting to entertain their customers while they were visiting.The 1,400-square-foot room is reminiscent of a tasting room within a California winery. The centerpiece of the room is a banquet-sized, hand-carved oak table that was bought in an estate sale from an old winery in Napa Vally, California. At the end of the oblong room, the end of an oak barrel storage vessel traditionally used to store wine is mounted on the wall, and Star Distributors and the founding date of the company is carved along its oval edges. )
The room is finished with an antique Indian Rosewood tasting table and a custom-made sink mounted on shipping boxes.The Laroccas use the room from everything to wine tastings to catered luncheons and dinners for clients and charity events. Whether entertaining or taking a breather after a long day's work, wine cellars are fantastic settings for those cherished evenings of rest and relaxation. |
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