When we got our cabin up in Tahoe a few years back, we were staying there and I had brought up a wine bag with a few bottles of wine in it and chose to leave the bag outside on our deck to stay cool one evening. Well, to make a long story short, we had a bear visit and it chose to steal my wine bag…complete with a few nice bottles in it (recall at least one being a Rivers Marie Panek cab)…never did find the bag or the wines again, but the bears keep coming back, presumably looking for more.
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And some Rhys Bearwallow, I presume.
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Did you leave a corkscrew? Bears struggle with the Ah So of the Durand, so a waiters would have been the right choice.
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I can just see the descriptors on provenance
“Label nicked, upper L corner. Bear bite marks on capsule. Some scuffing.”
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Recently removed from temperature-controlled bear
Having outgrown the two large fridges I decided it was time to take the plunge and do a full cellar build. Converted an unused portion of our finished basement into a cellar! So close to being done! Now time to fill the rest of it… for efficiency 
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Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!
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Looks great! What flooring are you using in there? I really like it.
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Thanks! Here is a link
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pure tung oil takes about a month to cure completely, quicker in a warm environment. PTO, or polymerized tung oil, cures much quicker. Agree
It looks great.
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I don’t know what part of this story is cooler!
- That you have old gold mines on your property
- That you store your wine in said gold mines unsecured
- That you have bears regularly wandering around messing with your wine collection stored in a gold mine!
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Today’s project was installing vinyl plank flooring in the wine cellar. This is the first time I’ve ever done flooring, so I had a lot of waste at first. But once I got the hang of it, it went in really easy.
Today was a day of kneel, stand, kneel, stand. And my knees are killing me. So this evening I’m sitting in front of the fire and washing down a dinner of ibuprofen and delivery pizza with some Roederer Estate Brut. 
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Today I built a threshold for the cellar door. Started with an oak 1×10, then I ripped to width, cut to length, notched the corners (for door trim), beveled the top edges, and cut rabbets to accommodate flooring.
It doesn’t look like much, but I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. This was right at the limit of my novice-level woodworking ability, so I just took it slow and went step by step.
Hopefully I’ll be able to sand and install it tomorrow.
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Very nice! I recently did something similar for my cellar – cut the threshold out of 2x6 hickory to tie into 3/4 T&G hardwood.
What’d you use to notch the corners for the door frame/casing? That’s the part I struggled with (did the rest of the cuts with a table saw)
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Thanks. I used a jigsaw for the notches. Then I cleaned them up by paring away material with a chisel until I had square corners. It worked pretty well.
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Today was the last work day of this trip. I drilled pilot holes for concrete screws, and drilled counterbore holes so that screw heads are hidden. Then I secured the threshold to the floor with concrete screws and a healthy helping of construction adhesive. Finally, I inserted oak dowels in the counterbore holes and glued them in place. Next trip I’ll cut the dowels flush to the surface and sand smooth.
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Charles, just wanted to say, thanks for sharing the progress. I’m enjoying seeing it come together. Please continue to post. Hopefully I’ll be able to share progress on my cellar buildout someday!
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Long time lurker. I have enjoyed this thread, seeing all the cellars, from A to Z. Most enjoyable is experiencing the passion for wine we all share … for better or worse! Here are are a few pictures of my wine “loft”, as it is located on the second floor. I don’t recommend it, much easier not having to haul wine up a set of stairs. I built the cellar in a 7’ x 10 alcove off the landing. It’s a split system.
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Your cellar looks great! I really like how you have so many different kinds/styles/configurations of bins. It seems very versatile.
What are you using for the labels on your bins? I’ve been looking for a labeling solution that doesn’t obstruct the bins and is easy to change (for when I inevitably reorganize), and your labels look like they might fit the bill.
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