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If you would like to write Ralph about his cellar or his collection, feel free
to send him and email him at wells@direct.ca
Ralph writes ...
Enclosed are some amateur photos that I have taken of my wine cellar. I don't
think these photographs do the cellar justice, as it is not only very difficult
to capture the width and breadth of the entire cellar, but also to encapsulate
all of the wines in a photograph is impossible.
Where to begin - I had a small room in my home that could hold about
500 bottles, and of course I thought this would last me a lifetime. It didn't
take long to fill up. I then built some wine racks in my craw space under my home,
that would hold about 1,000 bottles, and of course over time that filled up.
In 1992, I then had this brilliant idea to build the mother of all wine cellars,
that will hold 12,000 bottles! .. Guess what? It is almost full! ( editors
note: We reserve first rights on helping Ralph with any overflow that he might
have .. would hate to see him have to build another cellar )
Construction:
The room is about 30' x 25' x 4' underground, which is all concrete. The subflooring
is over a concrete slab and has a heavy duty foam underpad and a very
thick top quality wall to wall rug on it. The reason for the rug, is that
in my original wine cellar, I had a concrete floor and while I can't remember
every bottle of wine I've owned ... I will never forget the bottle of '78 Lynch
Bages that slipped out of my hands over twenty years ago. Believe me, having the
rug makes lets me breath easier !
The outside walls have 2"x6" studs, and the entire ceiling and all
the walls have 6" of sprayed polyurethane, which really works wonders for
insulation. The ceiling and all of the walls are covered by individual pieces
of 3" tongue and grooved western red cedar which has been naturally stained.
The entire cellar is windowless and built to withstand an earthquake of moderate
size. There are motion detectors and pressure plates installed inside for security
reasons and the entrance door is also alarmed
and double thickness with a steel plate sandwiched in the middle, also insulated
with polyurethane and a top quality locking system. The door is also covered with
5" tongue and grooved western red cedar that has been stained.
Temperature & Humidity:
The refrigeration system is the 'Russell' 26-67 two horsepower compressor,
with dual blowers and fans hung mid room, with cool air blown both ways. The compressor
and whole refrigeration system is located outside, where I built and enclosure
for it on a concrete slab. I keep the cellar at 52 deg F. year round and it never
varies more than one degree. I have two probes that measure the temperature 24
hours a day, with an alarm that goes off if the temperature varies more than 2
degrees or more in any direction. There is a digital readout about the door that
can easily be read from 40 ft. away.
The cellar was constructed to address the problems concerning my propensity
to acquire wine, (against my better half's very logical reasons to scale back)
and to store these for the long term, also to have them not only age slowly, but
to at least have the whites at the right temperature to consume as soon as I retrieved
them from the cellar. The reds, I like to take them out for at least a day in
advance, if possible.
The cellar is humidity controlled, with a dehumidifier, and I like to keep
it between 40 and 45 % relative humidity. I know, I know, the cognoscenti believe
that it should be around 70%. Wait until these people start having their labels
falling off and then they will change their minds. I have a German relative humidity
gauge "Duratherm", and it is a wonderful instrument.
Racking and Storage:
The individual bottle racking covers all
four walls and the centre aisles, the only exception is that one wall of racks
is for magnums only. All of the racking and bin storage is built of solid oak.
All of the bins hold 12 bottles and the racking is all one bottle deep.
Below all the individual racks, except where the magnum racks are, is room
to hold 5 cases each of whole, wooden cases of
wine. Below the two centre aisles of individual racking is the
bin racking.
Around the perimeter, I have a sloping shelf
that holds all of my Imperials ... well over 100, mostly first growth Bordeaux.
The walls behind the racking, along with the bins, are made of 3/4" oak
veneer.
Art's Note: The one storage area that adds unique beauty to the cellar (
as a woodworker .. I love the wood that was used) is the cocobolo
wood storage unit that houses a vertical of Ch. Mouton from 1945 - 1995.
The Wines
Many times when you see extensive cellars like this one, they
are in grand rooms where 10-12 people can have dinner. Instead, this cellar is
designed to cradle the wonderful wines that it contains as they grow and mature.
One cannot truly appreciate such a cellar without giving acknowledgment to the
wines that it holds. Thus, the pictures below are glimpses of the rarities that
are nestled safely in Ralph's cellar. These pictures will take a bit longer than
normal to load because we wanted to insure that we presented them well. We truly
hope you enjoy seeing this stunning collection as much as we have .. Art
& Betsy
Ch Lafite ... yes
if you look closely .. those are the vintages of 1889, 1898 and 1928 !!
The large format bottles ....
Imperials of Mouton
... Double Magnums ( Mouton,Petrus,Ducru,
Haut Brion,Margaux, LaChapell)
Imperials of Latour ... Imperials
( Cheval Blanc, d'YQuem, etc) .. Jeraboams
(Mouton, Margaux)
Case Quantities
Dominus ... DRC's
... Gaja ... Haut
Brion ... Lafite ... Petrus
... Misc
We thank Ralph for sharing his cellar with us ... If you have any cellar pictures
that you're willing to share with us and our readers, please drop
us a line
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