10/10/05 Monday question - Storing wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are answering questions from our email. Although I don't normally use names today is an exception. This is not only a wine question it is a domestic question. Jeff writes to say that "& my wife is gracious enough to allow me to spend the amount of money on wine that I do. My quandary is telling her I need a $2500 cellar." He goes on to describe the impressive wine collection he is storing in a crawl space under his house. This is no small investment and I want to believe that Jeff's wife is so gracious because she also enjoys wine. Building an expensive collection of wine and not making the appropriate accommodations to store it can be a recipe for disappointment. Jeff - I believe that you should stop buying wine for a while and save some of that budget to create a space to store your wine. Nevertheless, Jeff, I am sorry to say that you do not need a $2500 cellar. You can build a closet in your garage and the most expensive piece of it will be the wine cooling humidifier that you will purchase on line (about $700 or less when it is not on sale). This past year my husband built just such a closet in our garage along the interior wall. It took a little planning, and a weekend, but Jeff it cost less than half of what you think you need to spend. Try proposing something more practical to your gracious wife whom I am certain would want you to protect your mutual investment. Moreover, thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.