Giveaways: Pimp My Cellar Edition!
I know what you’re thinking.
Does that girl in Accounting think I’m cute?
Either that, or you’re thinking that we’re into Week #3 of intense Giveaway action here on 1WineDude.com!!!
Two weeks ago, five lucky winners walked away with copies of the latest way-cool Putumayo world music CD release Italia (a collection of songs recorded by contemporary Italian singer-songwriters). Last week, one lucky person cashed in on five killer jazz CDs from Sony Music and a gift certificate from www.americanwinery.com.
This week, we’re giving one lucky winner a combo-pack of 1WineDude gear: a Socrates Wine coffee mug, a “Wine Rules!” T-shirt, and a copy of the 1WineDude Tasting Guide eBook!
The rules are simple: you leave a comment on this here post, and I will randomly draw a winner from the comment pool. It’s easy… and the winner could be YOU!
For this give-away, I’m looking for your help – I need you to PIMP MY CELLAR!…
I often get asked what my wine cellar looks like, or how I store my wine, or generally what kind of wine racks I use, etc. The answer is really, really boring – I have potentially the world’s lamest wine cellar. Almost no money has been spent on wine storage in my home – that money instead goes towards wine buying. I’d rather be able to afford kick-ass wine than store crappy wine in an expensive cellar.
Like many other people on the Right Coast, I’m lucky enough to have a basement, part of which we’ve left unfinished, an area that servers triple-duty as a) storage, b) exercise facility and c) wine cellar. The temperature in that area rises and falls very gradually, and it’s cooler than the outside temperature in the Summer, and warmer in the Winter. The temperature varies between 55F and 70F during that time, but never moves more than a few small degrees on any given day. It’s usually dark and largely vibration-free. It’s about as decent an area for storing wine as you’re likely to get without having to pay for it.
As you will see from the inset pic, my storage mainly consists of boxes, a small wine refrigerator, and a cheap wine rack that, now that I look at it, appears to be leaning precariously to the right… It shares space with my super-cool bass amp and speaker cabinets, and my dusty & aging comic book collection. Anything that doesn’t fit into the rack is sitting in shipping boxes (not pictured). It’s kind of sad, really.
The good news is that I want to upgrade the Chateau Dude wine storage, and make better use of the space pictured to the left. This is where YOU come in!
You will notice that there is a pretty sizeable area that isn’t being used. In terms of placement, this space is near one corner of the basement (which means it benefits from better temperature regulation since two sides are surrounded by earth), and is recessed into the basement wall. It measures approximately 48” across, 20” deep, and 89” floor-to-ceiling. And I want to fill it with some vino!
I need YOU to leave a comment and suggest how I can best use that space, and you might wine some 1WineDude gear!
The wine fridge, comics, etc. are gonna get moved as part of a pending Chateau Dude basement cleanup, so don’t worry about those getting in the way of your creative process. Personally, I’m kind of partial to cube/bin-style racks for this space – the ones where the bottles actually touch each other and aren’t separated by slats – because this increases the storage capacity as well as the thermal mass, which means better use of space while helping the bottles maintain more stable storage temperatures.
But… I’m open to suggestions, and given that 1WineDude.com readers are smarter, sexier, more talented, and better-looking than I am, I figured that it was better to throw this out to the collective hive mind to solve than to run with it on my own.
So… Leave a comment, Pimp My Cellar, and win some gear!
Cheers!
June 8th, 2009 at 11:33 am
The most effective wine racks were made from concrete reinforcing mesh with 100mm square holes. Using brakets to hold the mesk 100mm apart and 100 mm from the wall will allow the racks to hold most bottles (including half bottles).
June 8th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Thanks. Uhm… did you say *concrete*?
June 8th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
The most effective use of that space would be to include a drum set to go with your bass gear.
June 8th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
You might want to contact Charles Malek – they have some cutting edge cellar solutions that should work for you.
Wine Masters Cellars
303-302-5900
charles@winemastercellars.com
http://www.winemastercellars.com
June 8th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Now *that* is a good idea!
June 8th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for the suggestion… looking at their website, I'm getting the feeling that I might also need to take out a 2nd mortgage for it as well…
June 8th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Um dude, there is entirely too little beer in that collection. You needs to hook that thing up with some Victory Baltic Thunder (which BTW I still have in my collection from my visit to Casa De La Dude) …
June 8th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Oh man – the BT is on tap right now, so you might wanna consider another visit!
June 8th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
You would be surprised to what you can find being thrown away on a regular basis from package stores or wine shops. Nothing like a few old school "Riunite" wine racks to store lots of wine. That being said, I'm a fan of the thermal heat idea- buying older sturdy wood shelves and book cases (the really heavy ones) at yard sales can hold a lot of wine. That may look a bit classier than used wine racks. Plus you can stack the bottles onto one another. Place something soft (sponges work well, or a chamois) inbetween the occasional bottle so that your massive bass tones don't rattle the sleeping bottles too much.
June 8th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
On the contrary, the metal wine wine racks from wine master cellars run about $3 a bottle. Very affordable compared to custom wood racks.
June 8th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
You might be able to fit a bed in there. Then I could sleep there while pretending to be your live in sommelier. And imbibing uproariously at my leisure!
June 8th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
DIY – I like it. Considering the locale, I'm not concerned much about how it looks…
June 8th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Whew! :)
June 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Sounds like something that my brother would suggest – "Hey, I've got a *GREAT* idea… how about YOU buy ME dinner!" :)
June 8th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
I think he means the metal grid that is used to provide support for structural concrete, you should be able to get it at home depot
June 8th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Ah HA! Sorry… I'm slow…
June 8th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I think you should put in a wet bar, nice redwood topped bar with black leather trim and matching bar stools. a great little setup for those moments when you want peace and a place to enjoy a glass of wine!!!
June 8th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I forgot to mention the no-second-mortgage clause of this giveaway… :)
June 9th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Okay, so like you I have a basement. The wine lives against two corner walls and then the overflow fills the entire space on the floor between those racks. I have 9 of the bin types you are talking about. I HATE THEM. Unless you are going to hang a tag on each bottle so you know exactly what each one is, you end up moving all the bottles to get to the one you want, cause yes, you know which bin it's in, but not exactly which of the 12 bottles it is. Also, you lose space because the bottles with bigger bottoms (Syrah, PN, etc) take up more than their fair share, so instead of 12 bottles to a bin of those, I get 8.
I just purchased a new set of stacking racks that I love, except I'm still finding that the big bottom bottles don't fit well in the slots, and instead have to live across the top of the rack…which is 12 bottles across so doesn't entirely solve the problem. Sigh. The 72 slots in the new rack didn't even serve to get half the wine off the floor. The rest lives in 12 Styrofoam shippers turned on their sides and and a random 12 bottle rack plus a small wine fridge. (I never thought I'd say there was such a thing as too much wine…)
June 9th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Good points! I too am a victim of Styrofoam…
June 9th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Giveaways: Pimp My Cellar Edition! | 1 Wine Dude http://tinyurl.com/noyp74
June 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Dude, we've got you covered! You can choose by material, bottle count, and price range. What about one of the cube-stack wine racks? Or a Bordex? Very affordable. Shameless self-promotion link comin your way!
http://www.wineenthusiast.com/wine-racks.asp
June 9th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
By using Wine Enthusiast's Designer racking series, you'd be able to utiiize a 34" wide Diamond Bin that holds 212 bottles and a 3 Column Individual rack that would hold 60. This would give you 272 bottles racked but wait…Don't forget about the top! Since these racks are only 72" tall, we have additional storage above for your wood or cardboard cases! You could easily store over 300 bottles!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Bin racks are great for getting the most capacity, especially if you buy multiple bottle or case lots. I find that it is good to have some individual bottle storage mixed in though for the wine that is more active and drinking. I think having a mix gives the space a more interesting look as well!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I would recommend utilizing The Wine Enthusiast's Designer Wine Racking Kits. They will give the look of a true custom wine cellar for a lot less because they are in stock racks that can be modified slightly to fit your space. If you are really on a budget you can check out the pine jumbo bin. They measure 42' x 42" so you could stack them and use some filler if you want for the extra space. Check them out!
The Wine Enthusiast
1-800-356-8466
June 9th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Egads! It's Attack of the Wine Enthusiast Employees!!!
;-)
June 9th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I should add that the situation is starting to get desperate now… either I'm getting too much wine, or I'm not drinking enough wine (probably both!)…
June 9th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Were' harmless, trust me!!! We can take care of any problem and create an affordable, attractive solution. 30+ years of innovation says a lot these days.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
There's also the "let's cut Joe a killer deal on a Eurocave system" option, right? Right…?
June 14th, 2009 at 3:12 am
I think i agree with Eric on the sturdy wood cases and shelves. From yardsales and the like especially, you'll end up with an eclectic mix of heavy woods; but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're loves need not live separate lives!: I want to see the wood facing of all the cases thoroughly collaged with runoff from the comics collection. In lieu of the wet bar it'll definitely suffice to give the basement character! Cabernet or Catwoman?
June 14th, 2009 at 3:19 am
Whoa – I'd never thought of it that way… that would rock! No Catwoman, though – I was a Marvel comics guy, no D.C. in that collection. :)
June 14th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Did someone tell you about Wine Enthusiast racks?
June 14th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Why, no, I'd no idea that WE sold wine racks… please elaborate…
;-)
June 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Thanks for all of the comments & suggestions!
We have a winner for the giveaway – of course, you can keep commenting, you just won't win anything!
Cheers!
June 23rd, 2009 at 2:25 am
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