How to Choose Your Wine Cellar?
Whether for personal enjoyment or professional use, choosing the right wine cellar is essential. Numerous factors must be taken into account to ensure optimal conditions for wine preservation, preparation, and service. In particular, the space, format, and furniture must align with the types of bottles being stored and with the daily use of your cellar.
Summary of Our Wine Cellar Guide
Which Wine Cellar Should You Choose?
There are several types of wine cellars, each designed for a specific purpose. A service or preparation cellar may be suited to a restaurant, while a maturation cellar is more appropriate for collectors of age-worthy wines, and a tasting cellar provides a space to welcome guests at a wine estate. Above all, it’s important to choose a type of wine cellar perfectly suited to your needs, constraints and desires.
Would you like to age your bottles over the long term or showcase your collection as part of your living space? Are you looking to preserve a connoisseur’s best vintages, or do you need a high-capacity and practical storage area for a prestigious hotel? To help you clarify your needs and identify the type of wine space that suits you, let’s take a closer look at the different types of wine cellars.
The Ageing or Maturation Cellar
A maturation cellar must offer complete tranquility to the bottles it shelters. The finest preservation conditions must be met: a stable and appropriate temperature, optimal humidity managed through ventilation or aeration, low light levels, no vibrations, and no undesirable odours – all within a calm, quiet environment.
These requirements are crucial for ageing wines over many years, allowing them to reach their full potential. Without this care, the wine may deteriorate and the investment in time be in vain. To patiently mature fine vintages, a cellar dedicated to conservation is essential.
The Preparation or Service Cellar
In a preparation or service cellar, the bottles’ stay is brief. Here, the goal is not to age the wine but to bring it to the right temperature and prepare it for serving. While ambient temperature and humidity must still be controlled, this space is above all practical and ergonomic.
It proves particularly useful in restaurants, hotels, wine bars, or any setting where bottles are opened daily. Temporary wine storage furniture allows bottles to be brought to room temperature, while sediment can settle.
At minimum, a service counter or buffet is required to provide a flat, mid-height surface for preparing bottles: dusting, cork removal, aeration, decanting—everything that precedes the tasting table. The entire space must be designed to facilitate the handling of crates and bottles and to simplify cellar management.
The Tasting Wine Cellar
A tasting wine cellar is designed to welcome wine enthusiasts who come to taste and appreciate fine wines from a local vineyard, special cuvées from renowned wineries, or a vintage bottle chosen for the occasion. Great care is taken in both the presentation of the wine bottles and the comfort of the guests. To host tastings or oenology sessions, this space must primarily highlight the bottles to be opened and enjoyed together.
To achieve this, it is important to emphasize the quality and elegance of the wine furniture chosen, such as a beautiful tasting counter, a refined wine library, or magnificent wine cabinets. Additionally, slanted shelves, bottle displays, candle holders, glass racks, wine cellar labels, and soft interior lighting will help dramatize the bottles and elevate the ritual of tasting a fine vintage. An oenological tasting space should also provide all the necessary wine tools to complete the sommelier’s ritual. Finally, depending on the space available in the room, chairs or armchairs will be appreciated by your guests.
The Presentation or Demonstration Wine Cellar
Designed for professional use, a demonstration or presentation wine cellar aims to create the ideal conditions for showcasing a wine merchant’s bottles, displaying the production of a regional vineyard, or highlighting a special cuvée from a winery.
Very similar to a tasting space, it is best suited for wine shops located in wine tourism sites, castles, wineries, as well as luxury hotels, private wine bars, fine dining restaurants, or other public venues where wine can be purchased on-site, sometimes directly from the producer.
In a presentation cellar, aesthetics reign supreme, and clarity is key. In other words, bottle collections should be presented in the best possible way, well-organized, and easy to access when searching for a particular type of wine. Each section can be dedicated to a specific category to visually distinguish wines from different vineyards, estates, cuvées, vintages, wine families, or grape varieties. Therefore, it is essential to choose wine furniture and accessories that allow for the creation of compartments.
The Wine Library or Wine Cellar
The wine library serves the same purpose as a personal library or cultural space. The great wines replace fine books, with a selection of wines that reflect the owner’s tastes and the passion of the collector. However, furniture specifically designed to protect wine bottles is necessary.
Thus, wine libraries can be made up of a few pieces of furniture or take the form of full wine cellars in dedicated rooms. They can be integrated into the heart of a living space while ensuring optimal storage conditions and the right temperature for preserving fine wine.
The Hybrid or Mixed Wine Space
A contemporary wine space can serve multiple functions, especially when space is limited in a home or professional setting. Versatile, it can house, for example, an electric wine cellar or a vibration-free refrigerated wine cellar to keep bottles cool, or include cellar modules, counters, displays—everything depends on the location, the person, the usage, and the intention.
In this type of versatile and customized wine cellar, different compartments can be designed for storing wine, preparing red, white, and rosé wines, taking temperature differences into account, as well as for on-site tasting. Each hybrid wine space is unique and tailor-made, adapting to the specific space and owner.
Choosing the Right Space for Your Wine Cellar
A good wine cellar needs to find its place in the best available space within a premises, according to certain criteria. How to choose the right location for a wine cellar? Where to put your wine bottles? A number of parameters come into play in this choice.
Making the Most of Available Space
To choose the right space for building a wine cellar, it is essential to evaluate the available volume in different rooms in relation to the required storage capacity, in line with the intended use, needs, and objectives of the wine area to be created.
Traditionally, the basement cellar is the preferred solution, particularly due to the coolness and humidity of this quiet space. The underground cellar is often used for storing wine, as is the pantry, while the laundry room or kitchen can serve as an intermediate area where bottles can be brought to room temperature and prepared for tasting.
Wine cellars are ideally located in a dedicated room, especially when a large capacity and specific conditions are needed. However, when an entire room cannot be devoted to Bacchus’ nectar, a small wine cellar can be created by making use of free corners, walls, or partitions.
In such cases, the idea is to make the most of small spaces or to redesign certain rooms to accommodate wine, for instance by creating a separation with a partition, a solid door, a glass door, or a sliding door, in order to form a cosy nook for bottles within a living area or a venue open to the public.
Integrating Temperature and Humidity Constraints
It also depends on the type of wines to be stored, as a single-temperature wine cellar will be arranged differently from a cellar divided into various temperature zones for red wine, white wine, still wine, and sparkling wine.
The need to maintain a constant temperature and stable humidity level must be considered, but if the destination space does not meet the necessary conditions, this issue of cooling and humidification can be addressed.
You can install ventilation, refrigeration systems, air conditioning, or even a wine cellar air conditioner. As a result, contemporary wine spaces can be placed in all types of locations and configurations.
How to Choose Wine Cellar Furniture?
Aside from the traditional built-in wine cellar, which has both its advantages and disadvantages, wine furniture has evolved significantly today, offering a wide range of solutions for both private and professional wine enthusiasts.
Reinforced materials for a wine cabinet, types of wine cellar shelves, wine rack formats, large wines stored horizontally, inclined in individual compartments, or presented vertically—there are countless configurations available.
Which wine furniture to choose? The intended use, capacity, and constraints of the available space will guide the decision between a wine service buffet, a wine counter, a wine library, or an electric wine refrigerator.
Wine Cabinets and Wine Cellar Modules
This type of wine furniture is recommended for optimal storage and a large volume of bottles, especially to ensure the aging of wine until it reaches maturity. To optimize storage space and adapt to the dimensions of the room, wine cabinets today come in the form of custom-adjustable cellar modules, either freestanding or built-in, preferably adjustable.
In terms of organizing a wine storage cellar, a cabinet or section can be dedicated to each type of wine. Additionally, instead of common shelving, a wine cabinet consists of shelves sized to fit the bottles. These shelves can take various forms: horizontal shelves, inclined shelves, grouped storage shelves, individual compartment shelves, sliding shelves for wine crates, and more. Drawers, racks, displays, and candle holders offer great modularity.
The Wine Service Buffet
While it can also be suited for wine aging, a buffet is primarily distinguished by its worktop, which allows for handling, preparation, temperature adjustment, and opening of each bottle before serving. Storage drawers for wine tools and oenology instruments enable the sommelier to prepare bottles in optimal conditions.
The Wine Counter
A wine counter is not only for storing bottles on its shelves—it also serves to showcase a vineyard’s cuvées and, above all, to offer a beautiful tasting surface. Whether for a private oenology session or to sample various wines produced at the estate, wine counters invite people to gather and share the pleasure of enjoying fine wine together. They also make a strong impression in wine shops or boutiques, enhancing the presentation of bottles available for sale.
The Wine Library
Whether built-in, wall-mounted, or freestanding, an elegant wine library differs from a traditional wine cabinet by its presentation. A carefully curated selection of wines and spirits is kept within easy reach. The prestigious vintages on display help create a warm and refined ambiance in the living space where the wine library is installed.
The Wine Refrigerator
Equipped with a thermometer and hygrometer, wine refrigerators can be useful, though they may also bring unwanted surprises—hence, this type of solution is not always recommended. While the bottles are kept at ideal temperatures on their shelves, the energy consumption of the refrigeration system can be high, and the limited capacity combined with potential noise can be detrimental to the wines. A refrigerator with an anti-vibration system is advisable, along with a glass door to monitor the bottles and maintain visual continuity, especially when integrated into a wine cabinet or buffet.
Wine Cellar Accessories
In addition to a well-chosen selection of furniture, wine cellar accessories and technical options are essential for completing the space—they make all the difference in terms of aesthetics, ergonomics, and ease of use. For instance, glass racks, sommelier tools, and oenology accessories are not only highly practical but also add a decorative touch to the wine area. Soft LED lighting, wine cellar labels, bottle displays, and flame holders contribute to making the cellar clearer, more organized, and visually refined.
How to Choose the Right Bottles for Your Wine Cellar
When it comes to selecting bottles, vineyards, grape varieties, and vintages, everything naturally depends on your personal taste, your affinity for a particular wine region, and other individual preferences. If in doubt, the guidance of a sommelier, oenologist, or wine merchant can be invaluable—especially for those just starting their collection. Regardless of your selection, it is important to consider the number of bottles in relation to your storage capacity and to respect the specific storage conditions required for each type of wine.
Architecture Intérieure du Vin
Whether for wine storage, preparation, presentation, or tasting, Architecture Intérieure du Vin offers a complete solution with a wide range of options—from furniture and accessories to the full design and installation of your oenological space by our expert artisans.
Our fully modular system allows you to create a bespoke wine cellar—whether for private or professional use—featuring robust furniture made of steel and fine wood, specifically designed to protect wine bottles while integrating seamlessly into any environment and decorative style.
To learn more, discover our offer, our achievements, and if you have any questions about your wine cellar project, we’re here to help.