Custom Wine Cellar in New Jersey

>We recently had the pleasure of completing a custom wine cellar made of 100% mahogany for a private client in Summit NJ. We were referred to the client by a designer we had worked with on a previous cellar in Westfield NJ.

The basement was unique (it was a 3' crawl space) which was dug out by hand and raised to 9' ceilings. We began by consulting with the homeowner and builder about the overall design of the finished space. Once we had an idea as to the finishes and materials of the basement we began to formulate a design and look.

The homeowner was very detail oriented, with African mahogany wood raised panel and coffer ceilings throughout the entire basement. We decided the wine cellar needed to blend with the overall look yet have its own unique footprint in the space. We decided to build the racking out of 100% Malaysian mahogany (which is a lighter species of mahogany than African) to really contrast the other woodwork in the basement.

The homeowner had a very cool idea of adding a cut out in the center of the wine cellar for a hand painted mural of his families Tuscan villa (it really makes the room pop).

The next step was turning a sump room closet which was attached to the wine cellar and turning it into a continuation of the refrigerated climate controlled space. We decided to go with "high reveal display rows" and a custom cabinet was fitted over the sump pump. The end result is a seamless transition which enabled more refrigerated custom wine cellar storage.

The next step was the door. We decided that a Brazilian Mahogany custom wrought iron door would be just the fit. It sits right between 2 windows and 2 half wine barrel cut outs. The cooling system is a split unit which is also wrapped in a mahogany grill cover to match the racking.

The last step was the "rope lighting" for the display rows which adds a perfect way to keep the heat down (led light) yet wonderful ambiance to the wine cellar.

Overall we were very happy to complete the project on time, and as always on budget. The homeowners were thrilled with the space and it was a pleasure working with them. In the end we were happy to help the clients stock their wine cellar and to introduce them to what we feel is the absolute best cellar management system.

Please check back for the next blog article about stocking your cellar and cellar management systems.