An old saying maintains that “Good wine needs no bush,” but a wine collection of significant size does need a place to be stored, and the home wine cellar is a poetic and generous place to do so.
“The wine fridge in the kitchen is suitable for the average consumer, but collectors are really on another level and need a larger space,” says Mark Kessel of Kitchens of Chattanooga. Larry and Cindy Schlabach have discovered the satisfaction of having their own wine cellar since it was completed last summer.
Larry and Cindy Schlabach have discovered the satisfaction of having their own wine cellar since it was completed last summer.Their passion for wine collecting began four years ago while on a trip to Tuscany that marked their 25th wedding anniversary. “We had heard that there was a really good grape there but they wouldn’t tell us where the winery was,” says Dr. Schlabach. With some help from the GPS, the couple hunted down Poggio Antico winery and liked what they tasted so well that they ordered some to be sent home, sparking their now flourishing collection.
Inspired by research and her own ideas, Cindy enlisted Kessel’s help to add a wine cellar to their restored Riverview home. Together, they transformed a basement rec room into a cellar that can hold more than 2,500 bottles and preps the senses with rows and rows of delightfully displayed wines arranged by their country of origin.
“Straight racks are utilitarian, but the combination of diagonal racks, waterfall racks and open shelves for cases gives it a great look,” says Kessel. “It’s an entertaining space instead of just a wine storage room.”
At eye level, an arched niche backed with miniature travertine tiles echoes the arched door that provides an entrance and a preview of the room through its diamond-shaped window. Redwood paneling, chosen for its richness and longevity, covers the walls and is artfully angled on the ceiling. “The pattern of the paneling gives it a lot of character,” says Kessel. “It’s important to add character where you can.”
In the center of the room, a rough-edged granite tasting bar stretches out from the right wall, emphasized by a vintage style wrought-iron chandelier with three pillar shades. “I wanted the wine cellar to have kind of an Old World feel like it had been here for a hundred years,” says Cindy. She chose irregular slate pieces for the floor, adding to the aged look of the space.
Each of the room’s lighting groups-including diminutive recessed ones on the ceiling and rope lighting at shoulder height around the perimeter-is separately controlled, allowing the Schlabachs to play with the ambience. All but the recessed lights are LED, which Kessel recommends because they almost never need replacing.
When creating a wine cellar “you have to do it from the ground up,” says Kessel, which is what he did in the Schlabach’s basement, insulating walls with a spray foam and installing a cooling unit and humidity control. “Essentially it’s a refrigerator,” says Larry. This efficient system keeps the wines chilled at 55 degrees, a temperature that Larry found would appease both reds and whites.
“It’s a luxury item at the end of the day,” says Cindy, but the luxury and love of having a collection at their fingertips is one that has flowed into almost every corner of their lives. “We really enjoy great food, and I love to cook, and we’ve found that the two are really inseparable-wine and food,” she says. Larry enjoys arriving home at the end of the day and handpicking that perfect bottle to complement the meal his wife is preparing.
“It’s quite broad what you can know about it,” he says, “but you start to realize what makes a really good wine, and then you only want to drink the best ones. And that’s our mission over the next decade or so, to find the best wines in the countries where they are produced and bring them home to our cellar.”