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The term “wine cellar” often conjures up visions of grandeur and luxury. After all, do not the finest European villas pride themselves on their extensive wine cellars? Further more, do not the finest restaurants in the area brag about the elaborate processes for keeping their expensive wines in ideal conditions.

All of this focus on wine cellars can leave the average person a bit uncertain about what a wine cellar is for, and, more importantly, whether his or her love of wine is sophisticated enough to actually purchase or build a wine cellar at home.

Many wine lovers, however will not need an extremely, fancy storage system to house their wines. They might not even need a wine cellar at all, because they only keep a carefully selected collection of bottles in small quantities, which they drink regularly. There are, however, wine collectors who stock more than just a few bottles, and they might need a dedicated wine cellar at home in which to keep.

For the wine lover who enjoys stocking many different kinds of wines, or enjoys collecting wine, a dedicated wine cellar may be essential. A wine cellar can be placed in any convenient location within your home.

You are talking how large the wine cellars going to be and how many bottles of wine when it comes to some wine collectors. The number of bottles it can hold is directly related to the amount of space that is available for your wine cellar in your home.

In order to maintain wine at its highest-quality sunlight, fluorescent lighting, vibration, temperature, and humidity need to be taken into account. If you have too much light, whether it is sunlight or fluorescent light, it can damage your wine. As a result, your wine cellar designs should include a darkened, storage space as well.

Another enemy of a wine is vibration. If you have too much vibration, it will just rock the sediments in the wine and cause it to change color or taste. This is especially true with the more delicate wines that are more susceptible to both vibration and light.

Humidity also needs to be taken into consideration as having too much of it will cause the wine to mold, and having too little humidity may cause the corks to shrink leading to wines spillage and spoilage. The optimum wine cellar would have humidity for the wine at about 70%.

Temperature is the last important consideration. Having improper temperatures will decrease the flavor of the wine, and if the temperature is to low, it can cause the wine to freeze.

One of the easiest ways to create a wine cellar in your home is if you purchase a self-contained wine cellar unit. These units can range in size from 2′ x 3′ to 10′ by 12′ or more. If you consider having a very large wine cellar in your home, it may be less expensive to have a custom wine cellar built for you.

Small wine cellars can hold as few as 24 bottles, while the large wine cellars can hold up to 2500 bottles. Prices for the smaller wine cellars can begin at around $500 and go all the way up to $4000 for the large custom-built models.

Wine cellars also come in a variety of exteriors from super-sleek, stainless steel to rustic oak or pine. You can also add to your unit - interior lighting, glass panels, locking doors and the like. However, be aware these added features will typically raise the price.

If you decide to purchase a wine cellar, you should have a checklist of things prior to getting a wine cellar design finalized including:

- How many bottles you would like to store.

- How much space you have available for your wine cellar.

-What kind of features and controls do you need in terms of lighting, temperature, humidity, and vibration? If you’re planning to collect expensive, delicate or special care wines, you will need to take into account extra features for your wine cellar.

- Is the wine cellar going to be tucked away in a room or placed out in the open? If you’re going to play set out in the open your going to want to invest in higher and finish so that it matches the rest of your house.

In the end, your purchase should be the best balance of features, price, and space. If you know what your wine tastes are prior to purchasing the wine cellar, you will get the best one that meets your current wants and needs with a little room to expand.