Can you build a wine cellar in your Inner West home?

Do you love relaxing with a great glass of wine after a long day? What about entertaining friends over a great meal and a glass of red?

In Australia, most wine consumers buy wine to be consumed on the same day. But what if you could buy your favourite wine in bulk and store it at home in a way that retains its quality?

Wine cellars and wine fridges certainly seem like luxury items to have in the home, but they also increase the value and the enjoyment of your home.

Building a wine cellar

If you are a true collector of wine, building a wine cellar in your home may be an option. If you have an older home in the Inner West, building a wine cellar won’t always be easy, but it is certainly doable with the right building team on hand.

Basements and under-the-house storage spaces are often used for wine cellars but if you don’t have a basement or don’t want to spend the money on excavation works, there are other options ‒ a pantry, under the stairs, hallway cupboard or even a spare guest room. The main factors are that the room is cool and dry, free of vibrations and smells and where minimal to no natural light seeps through. As well, it’s important you can control the room’s temperature and humidity.

There is a lot of prep work that goes into building a wine cellar at home; from sealing the floors and walls to making sure no light seeps through the windows, this is going to be a big project.

After preparing the room, it’s all about the cooling unit. This is what controls the temperature and humidity of the room, so it is essential you get professional information on the right cooling system to install for the room you are setting up.

Installing a wine fridge

If you are keen to have a selection of wine at home, installing a wine fridge is certainly a more affordable option, with smaller fridges starting from only a few hundred dollars. And if you want to get this right, don’t think you can get away with a bar fridge. A true wine fridge maintains an optimum temperature of 12–18°C (warmer than most bar fridges) and the right humidity of about 70% as well as being a low-vibration appliance. In addition, wine fridges are much smaller, and can be installed in your kitchen or any other room where it fits best.

It is important to consider where you will install the fridge though ‒ under-bench or in-built fridges come with vents on the front that keep the fridge from overheating, whereas ones not specified for under-bench installation tend to need more airflow around them.

There are three key factors when considering where to install a wine fridge: they need to be out of direct sunlight, not installed next to a heat-producing appliance (such as an oven or a dishwasher) and you need to be able to open the door fully. You may need to move your furniture to achieve the latter.

Wine fridges are certainly an option and you can install one yourself at home.

Building your wine collection

Now you have your wine c