Grape expectations: can your clients trust you with their prized petrus?

Residential Architect, Sept-Oct, 2002 by Nigel F. Maynard

In the throws of designing a 15,000-square-foot Mediterranean mansion, your clients request a wine cellar for a burgeoning collection of prized bottles of '97 Petrus, '71 Dom Perignon, and '82 Mouton Rothschild. They want a circular rack display and a combination tasting and dining room that will accommodate 12 people.

Sounds simple enough. And it may be within your abilities to handle if your clients are just casual collectors. But if they're true aficionados seeking to cellar for centuries, the job is likely over your head.

Manufacturers say the temptation to self-spec is so strong for architects with little wine cellar experience that some simply outfit a basement with standard cabinetry and shelving and a run-of-the-mill cooling system.

But if the mechanical system is inadequate, the shelving space inefficient, and the airflow poor, the vino will become vinegar and the client will turn bitter. Consulting someone with specialized know-how could mean the difference between a pat on the back or some choice words of mouth.

top shelf

Expertise is available at most price points, from moderate to extravagant. Prefabricated rack systems and advice from a climate-control guru might just do the trick on a lesser job. But a top-of-the-line job means custom racking, elaborate temperature and humidity controls, lighting, security, earthquake protection, and a back-up power source.

Architect Stephan Collier, a principal with Anderson Collier in Seattle, has squired a number of cellar projects and consultants through their paces. "We provide the space, tell them how the client is going to use it, and they basically design it for us," Collier says. "They then provide drawings that we review."

Custom cellars start around $80,000 for a basic set up but can top $300,000 for a soup-to-nuts configuration. One of the top firms working at the moment is Design Build Consultants in Greenwich, Conn. "There are architects who don't want to invest their time on the interior layout of a wine cellar because they lack the experience," says Evan Goldenberg, architect and founder of the firm. "It could cost them greater exposure to liability if they make a mistake so they bring me in as a consulting architect."

Goldenberg's firm designs and installs high-end cellars and coordinates the subs--mechanical, electrical, and carpentry--though clients can use their own general contractor. Goldenberg, the firm's chief designer and purportedly the only licensed architect specializing in wine cellars, says designing a cellar may seem simple to some architects but is much more involved than it appears.

"Flow of space is very important, not just the access of a cellar but where it's located," Goldenberg says. "The type of refrigeration system is also key and some species of wood are better than others." His standard offering is mahogany, but teak, cedar, or other hardy species can be substituted.

Another top name in the business is David Spon, president of McLean, Va.-based Wine Cellar Concepts. The firm designs, fabricates, and installs custom cellars, including all the cabinetry work. Spon handles the designs, but uses a refrigeration engineer to calculate the project's humidification and dehumidification needs.

off the rack

When the budget is tight, manufacturers such as Wine Cellar Innovations in Cincinnati or Apex Saunas & Wine Cellars in Bellevue, Wash., offer frugal-gourmet solutions.

Wine Cellar Innovations frequently works with architects to design and manufacture custom wine cellars and wine racks. The company also offers a premium clear redwood kit that's available in custom sizes to fit most spaces.

Unlike most manufacturers, Apex has 14 regional offices across the country enabling consultation on a project from the first day to the last, touts vice president Doug Smith. Although 90 percent of its work is custom, Apex offers a line of stock racking kits that architects may have installed. Three wood species are available: all heart redwood, mahogany, and Western red cedar. "Typically we get calls from architects whose clients want a wine cellar and they have not done many of them," Smith says.

Because requests from architects are growing, the company now mails an "architect kit" booklet that provides information on wall prep, refrigeration, installation, and vapor barriers. "Those are the kinds of things that architects don't know much about," Smith says.

no hot air

Even when someone else is carrying the design load, you still have a part to play. Planning is key. Paul Wyatt, owner of San Francisco-based Fine Wine Rack & Cellar, another top practitioner, says architects often call him too late in the design process. His biggest complaint is inheriting space inadequate for the job.

"I don't mind getting the architect's design if there is no problem, but among the problems I have to engineer for are air flow and earthquakes," Wyatt says. "I need to get in early to specify vapor barriers, wiring, plumbing, and drains. If a wine cellar has a window in it, I want to know what kind of light it is getting and what kind of heat loads the window is carrying."