A serious wine collection demands a serious environment — not a basement closet dressed up with racks, but a purpose-built, climate-controlled space engineered to protect and showcase bottles for decades. In this feature, we break down a fully custom 1500-bottle wine cellar crafted with sapele wood millwork, a vaulted ceiling, integrated LED lighting, and a high-performance cooling system. This room is a masterclass in how high-end residential wine storage should be executed.
A Statement Entry: The Arched Glass Doorway
The cellar sets the tone before you even step inside. A custom arched wooden entry door with glass sidelights creates a dramatic reveal, allowing the softly lit interior to glow through from the outside. The curved design mirrors the architectural lines of the vaulted ceiling inside, creating immediate cohesion.
Technical drawings confirm that the door and sidelight system was purpose-built to exact specifications, ensuring proper insulation and a perfect seal — critical in climate-controlled environments.
Sapele Wood Millwork: Warm, Rich, and Built to Last
The cellar interior is wrapped in sapele millwork, finished in a natural tone that brings warmth and depth to the room. Sapele is a luxury hardwood known for its stability and dimensional consistency, making it ideal for environments with constant temperature and humidity cycling.
Every section of the racking and cabinetry is custom-fabricated — nothing off-the-shelf. The result is a seamless, continuous visual experience with zero wasted space.
Designed for 1500+ Bottles — Across Every Format
This cellar isn’t just big; it’s engineered for real collectors with serious bottle variety.
The storage layout includes:
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Standard 750ml bottle racks
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Diamond bins
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Case storage and loose bottle compartments
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Champagne drawers
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A dedicated magnum row
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3L Jeroboam display shelves
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6L Imperial storage
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9L bottle feature displays
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Horizontal showcase displays with backlighting
The official plans specify capacity for magnums, champagne, jeroboams, imperials, and other large formats in precise quantities.
This is collector-grade storage — not decorative wine furniture.
A Vaulted Ceiling With Architectural Presence
One of the room’s standout features is its barrel-vaulted ceiling, designed not only for aesthetics but also to create a sense of height and volume. Golden bronze inlays add subtle visual definition, complementing the woodwork without overwhelming it.
The ceiling construction drawings detail the framing, curvature, and lighting layout, ensuring the vault remains structurally sound and flawlessly symmetrical (construction reference: ceiling & electrical layout ).
Climate Control: WhisperKOOL 8000 Split System
A collection of this scale requires stable, commercial-grade climate control. This cellar uses a WhisperKOOL 8000 wall-mount split system, installed strategically to blend into the millwork.
Drawings confirm:
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Hidden millwork grille
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Proper airflow clearance
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Blocked framing behind the evaporator
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Electrical and low-voltage wiring routed cleanly
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LED driver located in the cold room above the door
This is the difference between a wine room that looks good and one that actually protects wine.
Lighting That Elevates — Not Overpowers
Integrated LED accent lighting creates warm highlights on feature bottles, diamond bins, and display shelves. The lighting is intentionally indirect, preventing UV exposure while still delivering a gallery-grade presentation.
Strategically placed wall sconces and a central chandelier connection point add depth to the space, as documented in the electrical plans.
The Result: A Cohesive, High-End Wine Storage Experience
From the custom case bins to the oversized display shelves and the continuous flow of sapele millwork, this cellar is the product of precise planning and uncompromising execution. It’s not “a nice wine room.” It’s a fully realized, engineered environment purpose-built for long-term wine aging and display.
For collectors looking for inspiration — or for homeowners ready to build a cellar that actually functions — this project sets a benchmark in craftsmanship, engineering, and design.
