Napa – Wine Cellars

Q: Why choose a Diamond Certified wine cellar contractor in Sonoma County?
A: Diamond Certified helps you choose a wine cellar vendor in Sonoma County with confidence by offering a list of top-rated local companies who have passed the country’s most in-depth rating process. Only wine cellar vendors rated Highest in Quality earn the prestigious Diamond Certified award. Most companies can’t pass the ratings. American Ratings Corporation also monitors every Diamond Certified company with ongoing research and ratings. And your purchase is backed by the Diamond Certified Performance Guarantee. So you’ll feel confident choosing a Diamond Certified wine cellar builder.

Q: Do I need a custom designed wine cellar?
A: You can construct a wine cellar using standard materials. You can even get kits that allow you to build the units – racks, shelves, displays – that go into your new wine cellar. “Custom” means many different things in the wine cellar world. It may refer to special woods or cuts of wood that are different from standard offerings. It may refer to special stains, lacquers or paints. It can also refer to special pieces of furniture within the wine cellar, or specially cut and beveled rack edges. Look out for the word “custom” as it usually involves a price hike. Make sure you are paying for something you want.

Q: What makes a new wine cellar different from normal construction projects?
A: Wine cellars need to stay between 55-58 degrees and they need to have humidity levels of 55% to 75% relative humidity. This makes them cooler than most rooms in your home but also much more humid. The construction of your wine cellar needs to take the additional humidity into account, by having the correct insulation or vapor barriers, machines to cool the air, and ways to introduce and control humidity. The materials your Sonoma County wine cellar builder uses to construct and furnish the wine cellar must also be humidity resistant, which rules out carpet or vinyl, since the one will rot and the latter will not stick to its underlayer.

Q: Why do I need an exterior door on my wine cellar?
A: Your wine cellar is trying to maintain a steady temperature and humidity level, which are different from the rest of your house. An interior door is not sturdy enough to prevent the passage of heat and humidity. You need not only an exterior quality door, you should also surround the top and sides with weather stripping and use a threshold and sweep on the bottom of the door.

Q: What is a passive wine cellar?
A: A passive wine cellar is one in which temperature and humidity controls are not introduced. The wine cellar relies on natural conditions – such as being underground or in a cave – to provide an appropriate climate for the wine.

Q: Does my cooling unit also control humidity?
A: This is one where you have to pay attention to the unit you are installing. A few units may also monitor humidity, but most do not have the ability to add humidity to the air when needed. In these cases, you may need a fountain to add moisture to the air.

Q: There are so many terms. What is a wine cellar exactly?
A: A wine cellar is room – not necessarily in the cellar – where wine can be stored in controlled temperature and humidity conditions over the long term. This is in contrast to a wine refrigerator, which is used to store wine for about a year. Some stand-alone or free-standing wine refrigerators are called wine cellars. You should speak with the vendors about the prospect of storing wine in these machines over the long term. Wine refrigerators are also called wine vaults or wine cabinets.

Wine refrigerators come in different capacities for holding different numbers of bottles. Some are single zone, meaning they only allow you to set one temperature. Others are dual zone, allowing you to set two temperatures, for example so you can store red and white wines at different temperatures.
Wine refrigerators also come with compressor technology, which uses a condenser coil like a normal refrigerator and evaporates off water during the change from liquid to gas and back again. Compressor types are usually recommended for larger containers. Thermoelectric machines use the Peltier effect and have a hot and cold element inside, pushing the heat away from the cold. They tend to use less energy and have no vibrations. Compressor technology does have some vibration, which some claim can damage wine.

Q: What’s green board and what’s it doing in my wine cellar?
A: Green board refers to a type of drywall that is usually built into bathrooms and kitchens. It is designed to resist water. This makes it good building material for a wine cellar, where the humidity is high.

Q: Why can’t I just put my wine in a normal fridge?
A: While some wine refrigerators use the same compressor technology as normal refrigerators, the humidity is the critical factor. Standard refrigerators keep humidity very low - much lower than the 55%to 75% relative humidity that wines need. Wines need the high humidity to keep the corks in good shape. Without the humidity, corks will shrink, allowing in oxygen, which will destroy the wine, and any smells that surround the wine.

Q: How do I design a new wine cellar?
A: You can design a wine cellar on your own or look for examples of wine cellars and copy them. You can find kits to assemble different parts of a wine cellar. You can also work with wine cellar specialists in Sonoma County. Often they will provide detailed plans as part of the quoting process. These wine cellar designers often use CAD software to produce drawings and specifications of your wine cellar.

Q: Can I put a wine cellar anywhere in my house?
A: In general, yes, but there are some things you should consider. If you are going to build a passive wine cellar, then you need to build where the heat and temperature will suit long-term wine storage. In a passive wine cellar, you do not introduce machines or devices to control heat and humidity.
In a controlled wine cellar, you will be using machines to control heat and humidity, so you want to consider the existing heat and humidity in the space. Are there spaces where you can easily vent heat from the wine cellar? Do nearby rooms have the ability to move and exhaust air if the cellar is vented into them? If you are venting outside, do you have the necessary ducting or do you need to install it? For the unit you are buying, how long can the ducting be? If you plan on a split system, do you have a safe place to handle the outside unit.