BTW… Right now I’m leaning towards just putting 95% of the bottles into our living room that is adjacent to the wine room. It is a large living room in an “open” floor plan so it will be difficult to get the temp under 70°. I do think that by hanging black-out curtains over the windows and maybe putting in a portable room air conditioner I should be able to keep the temp pretty constant under 70°.
The other 5% would be the expensive bottles. I would pack them in styro and send them to a nearby storage joint.
This I think will work fine if I can get out with the carpenters with a whip to get them hurrying along. Come June we’re probably looking at 90° temps outside and that would literally not be cool.
Moving the bottles myself with a little help from my friends…
What would you think if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song, And I’ll try not to sing out of key.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends.
[whoops—sorry 'bout that)
As I was saying… Moving the bottles myself with some help from my friends will be a great opportunity to cull through everything and pick out stuff I want to sell. I might even have an open house over a weekend where local wine-nuts could come and buy up some of the stuff. I would discount the price the amount that I would have to give in broker’s commission; maybe even a little more because I would get the cash right away and I won’t have to box it up. The really big winner here would be my back! I’ll post if I do this.
No. I have never heard of them. Funny thing is that their facility is closer to my home that any of the others I have looked at; probably 25 miles. There is one closer place; a restaurant with a big cellar. They have offered to do it for free but I have to get it there.
It is looking more and more like what they will “force” me to do is to put it our living room. It is adjacent to the cellar. They will put up some blackout drapes and also buy a couple of air conditioners. I think I can keep the temp fairly stable between 68° and 71*. I would take some of the more expensive bottles and pack them up for outside storage.
Hey David, I just saw the YouTube video of you on Cellar Snoop. Your “cellar” is beautiful, and I just assumed from reading it was a typical underground basement cellar. Actually seeing it gave me perpsective on how much more serious your problem is. My sympathies, I hope everything works out.
While I’m somewhat loathe to take an insurance company’s side, I have to say that necessity being the mother of all invention, the idea of turning your living room into a makeshift cellar temporarily to save the wine isn’t a bad one. Certainly it would save you time and money and you could care for your babies every day personally.
Of course, if you’re looking at optimum conditions then the restaurant’s generous offer certainly is work taking them up on… as long as they don’t put your stuff on their wine list.
David - I just realized I can bring you 20+ empty case boxes. We’re doing lots of shipping at the winery now (as you will see when your order arrives today!) and I put loads of empties in the recycling bin. No problem to pull them out and get them to you. Let me know if you need them.
I’d clarify (in writing) what happens if the heat spikes, AC fails ,whatever and the temp moves to 85 for days. Will they cover the wine loss? How is loss determined? etc.
The CellarMeister himself, Paul Wyatt, using his precision tools to carefully disassemble the cellar so that it can be put back exactly as it was before.
Well I’m very glad that the true handiwork will survive the transition. I wish you the best of luck, cool weather, speedy construction and no mishaps. Please do keep us up to date!
I have not been in this forum in recent days. I was getting caught up and saw this thread. I am so sorry that you are forced to endure this hassle. Rest assured that you will get your beautiful cellar back soon. In fact, in situations such as these, if you make even one tiny aspect of the rebuilt cellar better (than it originally was) it can be very psychologically beneficial.
