(91) can help homeowners design the perfect cellar. Companies like the Wine Enthusiast in Hawthorne, N.Y. Those who have a spacious cellar at that temperature range must then decide on which types of racks are needed. But heat is the real devil.Ī steady temperature of 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for long-term storage. Avoiding excessive light frees up the kitchen windows for potted plants. Those living near an elevated train line or over the tracks might not want to lay down Chateau Petrus, but vibration is usually not a serious consideration in wine storage. When you are ready to move into more serious wine storage, consider the three enemies of wine: heat, vibration and light. Or display a salami collection or antique rolling pins. Or sort some magazines into the compartments. Some suggestions: roll up fluffy hand towels and slot them into the remains of your first wine rack. Some metal racks are positively sculptural and can be recycled into other rooms as the collection grows and storage matures. Kitchen and home stores and catalogues have simple racks in wood, plastic and metal. Suitable storage can be found in all but the smallest of spaces, and even then, if one reassesses what is important to quality of life, a dozen bottles or so can be squeezed in somewhere. Unfortunately, the gap between the iron bars was large enough to allow one to reach through and extract a bottle.'' She concluded: ''Consider whether the cellar is to be decorative or functional.''Ī wine cellar need not be in the cellar. ''The wine cellar had been set into an arched niche in the basement and fitted with elaborate wrought-iron gates and an impressive lock. Ensor described a wine cellar she had seen in a house being considered for the magazine. ''We've noted the increase of this category since the wine cellar is a status symbol, the hot tub of the late 90's.'' Leslie Ensor, editor of Custom Home Magazine, reports on the growing popularity of wine cellars. It is a comfort to think that a corner of the basement is still capable of providing a bit of excitement, although I would like to believe that none of us are causing a ruckus or raising a rumpus when we open a bottle of wine. I have a theory that some of the mortal remains of the rumpus room have metamorphosed into wine cellars. Does that mean that we as a country or as individuals have calmed down, tamed by our architecture into more sedate lives? Oh, we have family rooms and dens and libraries and home theaters and the ever-so-promising great room, but the rumpus room has gone the way of the dodo. WHATEVER happened to rumpus rooms? There were millions of them a generation or so ago, and now not a trace can be found of that seemingly unique American institution.
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