Hmmm…I curently have 240 bottles in the house; median aging need is probably 4 years. I have Burgundies, Northern Rhones, Oregon Pinots, super-Tuscans, etc…and no possibility of storing any of them below room temperature, at least until we can acquire a Eurocave or Vinotech. So far, I’ve had no problems of aging during storage.
Many more bottles are on the way. If I have problems of wine spoiling during storage, I’ll post them on this site.
I went for the passive approach with my collection and (maybe I’m a little obsessive about my collection but…) I find I have a lot more piece of mind if I can keep tabs on the temp and humidity. I use these little sensors that I can put in the closet space I use and it will send me alerts to my phone or email if the temp or humidity get out of range. The whole set up was surprisingly simple. Its called WallyHome- sells on amazon http://www.amazon.com/WallyHome-Water-Leak-Detection-System/dp/B00GDI510M/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1407537595&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=wallyhome
Here’s mine in action… https://i.imgur.com/cD5UWBt.jpg
My friends. I think the cave is always important to distill wine at ease. everybody can not of course have its own cellar, but if you have the space and means, going right away. 
Let’s say up to perruque wig
Last year wine wasn’t my thing. We moved into a new house with a built in under-counter wine cooler in kitchen and built in wine shelves in wet bar. I thought I was a king with my 40 bottles and now I’ve got 115 bottles en-route and 120 or so in the house. I even have a spreadsheet of planned purchases and at the rate I’m going I’ll have 400+ bottles by end of next year. Now looking at Eurocave or off-site storage as options. The Eurocave is an eyesore IMO and off-site storage a long drive from my place. I have a spare closet I could convert into a cellar but got initial ballpark estimates of 20K and I think it’s too much for the return in space (200-250 bottles).
$20K to convert a closet!?! That’s insane. Get some more estimates.
Wow.
Ditto.
That amount is crazy talk.
Currently at 423 bottles stored at room temperature with no problems yet (we do keep our house pretty cool).
I like to have a couple cases worth in the basement, a 30-50 bottle fridge for short term aging and off site storage for stuff long term storage of stuff I need to forget about(or I’ll drink it early 
)
Define “problems” though… i presume wine isn’t seeping out b/c it’s not super hot… but i thought room temp (not heat spikes) would just accelerate the aging of your wine?
so the ‘problem’ (if you can really call it a problem) is if you plan to age a wine 50 years… if you drink it in <5 years, it probably won’t be a problem?
Would like to thank you guys for the advice giving on here.
I am new to wine and just reading this thread has answered some of my questions without asking.
I started with a 6 bottle thermoelectric unit thinking I’ll never collect many good enough wines that need proper temperature, bought a 28 bottle Vinotemp and 2 weeks ago i stepped up to a 144 bottle Vinotemp. I don’t even have a great location in the house to keep it and it’s sitting in the formal dining area. It can be a bult-in unit but there’s no space in kitchen for that application. i’d almost be be willing to give up the space the double ovens take up to get the big Vinotemp to fit in.
I think if your farmhouse is cool enough you are OK.
BTW, Which Spanish wines have you found to be particularly good. I was at a friend’s house and he’s mostly into $15 red blends and he asked me if I wanted to open a bottle he wasn’t familiar with that someone had given him. When he pulled it out and I saw that it was a 2005 Vina Ardanza by La Rioja Alta my eyes widened. One of the better wines I’ve had all year for sure and since he and his wife didn’t care for it as much as I di I was in heaven serving myself many small pours until it was gone.
