By Andrea F. Siegel , Sun reporter|March 02, 2008
By design, the rooms are chilly, damp and dark -- but an environment in demand.
Homeowners are turning to wine cellars to keep their vintages in optimal storage conditions, building rooms that can be as elegant as a Tuscany-styled entertainment hideaway or as stark as a rack-lined cave.
Cellars can cost as little as a few thousand dollars for a simple grotto or well into the six figures for an architectural statement, and they are as likely to hold inexpensive vintages as they are those valued at upwards of $2,000 a bottle. Decor is everything from Halloween-like fake cobwebs to pricey art.
"They are definitely getting more popular here on the East Coast. We are still catching up with where they were on the West five to six years ago," said Steve Goldstein, a former sommelier and owner of the Washington-based firm Classic Cellar Design, which has clients in the Baltimore area.
Builders say wine rooms capitalize on the cocooning trend: the home is a retreat from the outside world and a hub for entertaining. Years back, the basement was a musty cavern that gathered junk. Now, wine cellars (rooms historically below ground anyway) may blend into an entertainment zone that includes a home theater, pool table and foosball, even shuffleboard.
It took nearly a year to construct Gus and Lynne Kalaris' custom mahogany wine cellar in the basement of their Highland home -- its racks are three bottles deep to accommodate 7,500 bottles.
"I needed a place where I could store a lot of wine," said Gus Kalaris, 49, a regional wine distributor and owner of Axios, a Napa Valley winery.
Despite owning their own vineyard, the couple stashes a variety of vintages from mostly other wineries in their cellar. They have some for drinking and tasting now and in the near future, and they also collect and keep wine for the long-term. The size of their wine room reflects the couple's enthusiasm, although builders say a more typical cellar is closer to 1,000 bottles.
And though Gus Kalaris wanted a place for tasting with friends, he didn't want the wine room to become a regular gathering spot. Chairless, it has a small sink at one end, but an octagonal table around which people stand and chat is the centerpiece.
"I don't want it to be a cafe," Gus Kalaris said. "I want it to be attractive, elegant and functional."
