Cellars - anything I should know

[benread]

It looks like we will be moving house and as part of the process, acquiring a cellar.

Having last lived in a house with a cellar some 40 years ago, I remember little other than it flooded occasionally, and when it did, my brother and I put wellies on and floated boats in the large puddles! What should I know....

(My first two thoughts were - keep the kids out and make sure the wife never gets to see everything that is in it!)

All advice gratefully received!

[flash_uk]

My first two thoughts were - keep the kids out and make sure the wife never gets to see everything that is in it

Very good first thoughts. I doubt my wife would really be that interested in what was in my cellar (which doesn't yet exist properly). I have a pal at work who has a large cellar, and he has a tactic of storing a load of cases of Sauvignon Blanc and cheap Cab near the bottom of the stairs. His wife is under instruction to "just grab something near to hand at the bottom of the stairs and don't go into the cellar."

[mosesbotbol]

Keep all the bottles 2' from the floor if your cellar floods. Luckily, my cellar has never flooded.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Invest in a min/max thermometer and a humidity data-logger and use those on a daily basis for the first 12 months that you are in the new house before you put anything of worth or value in there. Just make sure that you don't have the boiler in the cellar (I had a house like that once) or anything else that would prevent you from being able to store wine in the place.

Worst case you might need to tank line and insulate the cellar and instal a temperature and humidty control unit.
Best case, you might not need this stuff!

[uncle tom]

1) If it's fully underground and doesn't house the boiler, then don't worry too much about the temperature - I doubt that anyone who has gone to press about the perfect cellar has actually measured the temperature and its fluctuations in the world's classic cellars.

2) Think about flood risk - are there pipes in there, are they sound? Could a once in a century deluge outside send water inside? If your plumbing outside of the cellar suffered a serious failure, would water find its way into the cellar? Think about possible ground water fluctuations and consider fitting a pump. If you do, consider fitting a 12V marine bilge pump powered by a battery on a trickle charger. These typically cut in and cut out briefly every few minutes so you know they're working, and the battery will ensure that it survives a power cut (which is more likely in a severe storm) The fittings for small bilge pumps are also quite cheap.

3) Think also about ventilation, especially if label condition is important to you, otherwise labels will start to go mouldy in the more airless corners.

4) Where possible deploy double depth racking to make best use of the space you have. When ordering racks, shop around, as there are a lot of middle men making fat margins out there.

5) If you use conventional wood and steel racks, buy some silver duct tape (also known as gaffer or duck tape) and wrap small pieces around the forward steel bars - this will protect your back labels

6) Keep your cellar clean and free from anything that will generate an odour. From time to time, go into the cellar and stand still - can you smell a leaky bottle? If so, find it and either drink it or over wax it, and then clean away any drips. By keeping the cellar free of port spillages your nose will guide you to offending bottles..