Wine Cellars in France
Wine cellars are more than just a basic cellar. In some French regions people spend hundreds of hours taking care of them as they can need constant attention, depending on the size of the cellar. In fact, the humidity and temperature can ruin your wine’s quality therefore your cellar will need constant monitoring. There are three types of wine cellars:
– Buried
– Semi-buried
– Prefabricated
If you live in a French apartment(ref26795) but wish to have a cellar, you may find a refrigerated wine cellar could be useful, as they can artificially reproduce all the characteristics of a natural cellar and at a lesser cost.
In fact, the types of cellars differ depending on the region they are located in. For instance, in the South of France there are much more refrigerated wine cellars than in Burgundy, Aquitaine or Alsace. Refrigeration equipment is mostly appreciated and used for quick, easy chilling, meaning they are perfect for an “aperitif” break in the afternoon, especially during summer time. If you’re keen to own a cellar, it all depends on how you’re going to use it. You will also have to figure out how many bottles you want to it to hold, and where you want to install it. Nowadays cellars are not only located in the basement of a property, but can be in numerous areas of the house. The example of spiral cellars perfectly illustrates this new phenomenon
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The emergence of spiral cellars
The first spiral cellars appeared in France thanks to Georges Harnois, who, in 1977, had a genius idea after contemplating the magnificent “Pont du Gard” monument in the Languedoc Roussillon region. This revolutionary concept took some time to grow but its success has accelerated in recent years as more and more foreigners and especially British people are seduced by the concept: more than 20,000 French properties have been seduced by Spiral Cellars and over 3,000 of them have been built in the UK.
It consists in digging a hole in your floor and implementing a storage area for your wine to make it very accessible and practical. Some hidden pipes will also be installed in order to regulate the temperature of the cellar. Finally, a trap door will be put on top of the spiral stairs to hide the cellar and make it very discrete from the outside so it won’t affect the beauty of your floor.
Furthermore, this new kind of wine cellar can be built in almost any area of the house including the living room, the garage, the conservatory… The only dissuasive argument is the price which is slightly high compared to a refrigerated wine cellar. However, this incredible cellar will no doubt make you the envy of friends and relatives.
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The charm of traditional wine cellars
Possessing a traditional wine cellar in your property is an extremely valuable and prestigious asset if you have decided to use it properly. There is nothing more impressive than having a typical basement wine cellar with a collection of vintage wines to delight all your guests.
However, if you are not passionate about old wine and you have no intention of maturing them over several years, it doesn’t mean that you cannot use your traditional wine cellar. In fact, traditional wine cellars are still perfectly adapted for keeping wine which is to be rapidly consumed.
Traditional wine cellars do add charm to your French property, and it is little wonder that more and more recent house owners are keen for such a feature, as it gives a great amount of character and personality to your French property.