Hey everyone,
I am in the process or building a new house and we are putting in a 4feet x 4feet wine cellar. Going to purchase racking online, foam the walls for insulation and use a breezair cooling unit.
For those of you with cellars, what regrets do you have and what would you do differently?
Building it too small.
If I were building a new house, I would turn the 4x4 space into a closet, and use one of the bedrooms as your active cellar.
What part of the country are you in? If the summers aren’t too hot, and the cellar is below ground, you might not need additional cooling if the cellar temp won’t go above 68F or so. That’s my experience with a passive cellar for 30+ years.
I know one person with a space about that size that works fine for him, but that seem to be far from the norm. Most people I’ve talked to who have cellars have more space than that and wish they had more than they do.
Youll regret the small size 
Not sure where you are located.
Agree you will build it too small.
I really liked my cellar and my cellar builders – Chris Kravitz (who is on this board). Has worked really well. Use closed cell spray foam, wire for Ethernet, and build bigger.
I might have added humidity but not really necessary.
Bigger is better. Extra room can be for storage until you need it. Two passive basement cellars 8’ x 12’, now a conditioned room with 4’ x 14’ area for 500 bottle wine storage.
Thanks everyone. Building in Oklahoma. Will be above ground. Size is all we have room for. I still have an option for off site storage.
If you will keep off-site storage, I would recommend racking the space for high density. Then store your bulk wine off-site. Basically the house is for ready-to-drink, off-site is whatever isn’t ready to drink. Would do spray foam and temperature control because your neck of the woods can get pretty warm!
I agree with all of the above posts regarding size. Given that larger won’t work for you, here’s a recommendation you can actually use: CellarPro, not Breezeaire for your cooling unit.
I would do a ductless split system – more capacity, less space, more flexibility
I just built a cellar in a not quite squared off 10x12 space. 4x4 is so small that I’d probably just buy a Eurocave for things you want to keep on-site and use off-site for everything else. But if you really want an in-house cellar, I’ve been pleased with my WhisperKool. I know people have strong opinions, but for a 4x4 space, you can probably go with the smallest unit and see how it goes. However, again, in a 4x4 space, if you have the unit itself in your cellar, its going to eat up a lot of storage space.
Ditto
If you do build or buy make sure the racks will hold Champagne and today’s rotund bottles such as Aston.
4x4 is tiny if you’re going to put in traditional racking. My long term (ie: not in need of regular access ) storage cellar is 4x4. To make it efficient I’ve just stuffed it with wooden crates filled with bottles. This seemed the most efficient use of the space. With racking, you’ll run out of space quickly.
don’t build it unless it is at least 12X12.
Have you thought about under a staircase?
4x4…that sounds like it might be enough room for about 6 - 8 cases and maybe a magnum or two. If you’re just getting into wine this won’t be enough room if you learn/decide you like aged wines. I can say an area 6x6x6ft does allow for about 300+ bottles and 12-15 magnums comfortably. Which is about the smallest I’d want if you want to start aging wines so you know you have good provenance. Without a doubt…make sure that you have at least 2x the space you think you need.
…
Is 4 x 4 the interior or exterior measurement? If it is interior, a quick look at stock racks indicates that you should be able to get about 250 bottle if you use bins on the back wall and a smaller rack of individuals on one side and still leave room for access. But that is assuming that the cooling unit can be mounted on the opposite wall and not hinder access which may be a bad assumption. If so I see no reason not to pursue it. If the 4 x 4 is the exterior measurement and you need to account for wall thickness then it may be too tight to work.