Building a wine cellar on a budget: an enthusiast’s guide

Calling all wine enthusiasts – let’s build a cellar. As someone who has been in the wine trade since day dot, I am not flush with cash. I have a modest collection of wines, although more frequently my wine collection experiences a high turnover of stock rather than ageing anything particularly cellar-worthy. There are infinite guides out there for how you can splash the cash on some truly beautiful cellars, even paying designers to come and build them into the fabric of your home, but alas my money keeps going on new wines rather than elaborate ways to store them.

Nevertheless, a good friend of mine and a fellow enthusiast has built his own rather charming cellar under his house, and it has got me thinking. Can you build a cellar on a budget? Where do you even start?

Wine cellars beyond basic storage

I don’t want to just stack bottles. My wine needs to be stored in an environment that ensures each bottle’s integrity. Properly stored wine, when it is cellar-worthy, will be even more rewarding when you come to drink it. So we need to think about stable temperatures, the right humidity, and absence of both light (think light strike and dull fruit) and vibration.

Room temperature is not what it once was. We all like the heating drummed up nowadays, so a cellar needs to be a little cooler. 12-14°C is idyllic. The most important thing, however, is to avoid any dramatic or sudden shifts in that temperature. If budgets allow, you can cheat the system and put your “cellar” anywhere with a wine fridge – and, insider tip, the site appliances direct often has good deals and payment terms if this is an investment you’re eager for.

Humidity is key, mainly because of wines sealed with a cork. If you let the corks dry out then oxygen permeates in and the wine can oxidise faster than you’d want. Traditionally this why cellars are great for wine. If you’re going to age your wines, this is actually a really important part to get right. For accuracy, I’d plum for this hygrometer. Wayfair also has one. Your wine cellar should be 60-70% humid.

Darkness is a sanctuary for ageing wine, hence why most wine fridges are not internally lit. Light strike can cause off-flavours or premature oxidation. Wherever you store your wine, somewhere dark is always better.

Vibrations are often forgotten about, but they’re key if you’re storing reds or wines with sediments like port, especially. While rotating bottles can be a good idea from time to time, frequent vibrations from appliances or even repetitively walking over the floorboards above can disturb a wine’s ageing. It’s another reason to keep wines out of the kitchen and the utility rooms.

Building a storage solution for the budding wine aficionado

If you want to put together a makeshift cellar, even on a modest budget, then you can pull things together surprisingly easily on interior sites like Wayfair. I’m picking them out because you can get a range of options from them without having to switch between different retailers, which can leave you with a premium to pay on delivery.

There seems to be a few different options when you look around Wayfair, particularly on the storage options.

Picking your wine rack is actually super important. I dislike most of them because the metal part of the structure can rip your labels when you draw out the bottles. If it’s just simplicity and a decent number of bottles, you can do worse than this 72 bottle wine rack, but it doesn’t work well for the oddly shaped or fat-bottomed wine bottles, so it only really works if you buy fairly traditional wine bottles.

You can add some style with wall mounted display racks like this one, if you have the space for it. In fact, Belfry Kitchen’s designs are really great all round but some of them, like this very nice two-deep wall mount rack, can get expensive. For large wall space cellars, a mounted rack is a good option for label visibility, but make sure it’s a sturdy offer like this wall mounted wine rack.

If your carpentry skills are up to scratch then a good cheat to a wine cellar can be characterful furniture that hides internal racking inside. This dark, weathered sideboard cabinet by Lanham is – importantly – deep enough to house full wine bottles. If you do repurpose something like this, try to position it in a room with consistent temperature and away from vibrating appliances. A dining area can often be a good compromise and ensures easy access to wines during dinner parties!

Optimal conditions for your new wine cellar

While looks and wine storage are one thing, don’t forget the essentials if you’re really looking to age your wines.

Location, location, location! You want to ensure it’s a naturally cool, dark environment without fluctuations in temperature or frequent vibrations. If you don’t have a cellar, then cheating with blackout thermal blinds (here’s an example) can be a clever way to shut out unwanted heat and light. Then again, you’re not going to want your living area to be pitch black, so this option is better for hallway or storeroom cellar locations.

Humidity, as we covered, is one of the most important parts of the cellar for ageing – so get yourself that hygrometer!

Subtle lighting can help you offset light strike over time. In cellars, simple battery powered amber toned LED strip lights can be a good example to discreetly illuminate labels, avoiding light heat and glare. These needn’t be fancy or expensive, and even this 5m roll would cover most amateur cellar spaces.

Take pride in labelling your wine cellar? I really like these small chalkboards. You can use a chalkboard marker pen so it doesn’t easily rub out (as opposed to classic chalk) but it is a nice, subtle feature to label your Bordeaux reds from your Loire whites, or your new world from your old.

Building a cellar, like great aged wine, takes time

Your new cellar has the opportunity to be your playground. It’s a place to enjoy your collection of wines, your library of flavours and dinner choices. Patience is key, and a good cellar takes time to acquire not only the wines but the features of the cellar that stores them.

Get the essentials right with a focus on label-safe storage, a stable temperature and the right humidity. The rest is about implanting your character onto the space available.

Remember that the journey is often more rewarding than the result. I am a decade in and I am only just starting to embark on mine. Cheers.