The Wine Cellar

I love wine; drinking it, smelling it, tasting it, looking at it, and collecting it.
I have a wine fridge at home; in fact I have 2 wine fridges at home. They’re specifically designed to keep wine at a safe temperature «around 55 degrees.»
So why on earth would I pay a company like Wine Cellar money to store my wine?
Let me educate you :).
Here are some little known facts about wine, and wine fridges.
Most in home wine fridges are meant for short term cooling not long-​term storage, a few months to a year or two. They’re meant to keep your bottles from spoiling quickly.
Very few wine fridges maintain proper humidity levels 50−70% and over time will dry out your wines corks.
Most wine fridges die within 5 to 10 years, at which time there is a good chance your wine will end up cooking inside the cabinet, unless you catch it right away. They also vibrate when the condenser «cooling unit» goes on and off stirring up sediment in the wine.
Last but not least most in home wine cellar/​fridges fluctuate between 3 – 7 degrees each day. As the bottles cool and heat they contract and expand, drawing air into the bottle. Over many temperature fluctuations, a small amount of air replaces wine. Since oxygen is the single most damaging thing to wine, bottles that have undergone repeated temperature cycling tend to lose their freshness. An OK level of temperature fluctuation is about 5 degrees over the period of an entire year. Fluctuations of even three degrees can be damaging if they occur daily. Don’t fret if your thinking «damn I bet I killed my 2001 Château d’Yquem already!» Don’t worry wine doesn’t spoil over the period of a month or a year or two, if you’ve keep it under 60ish degrees. But some bottles are meant to age for 15 – 50 years, and in a wine fridge that means a slow death.
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The Wine Cellar is a giant meticulously temperature and humidity controlled warehouse, located just west of Sepulveda and north of Olympic. It’s under 24-​hour surveillance, you get your own locker (bring your own padlock though,) and the guy that runs the place couldn’t be nicer.
You’ll walk past lockers that will make you green with envy stacked from floor to ceiling with single bottles that cost more then you and I pay a month for your rent, or mortgage.
But don’t fret, whether your wine collection is 20 bottles, or 2000 they just might have a locker that will suit you perfectly. I highly suggest if you are serious about collecting or aging wine you give them a call. You’ll need to be buzzed in so don’t think they’re closed, but do make sure you call before heading over.
They are closed on Monday’s and Tuesday’s and open each day around 10:30.

On the first day of my favorite three months of the year, it’s only apropos I update one of my favorite local businesses. Why are they a fave? Because they keep me watered, yes, but also for the simple fact that they always treat me so well.
I’m only in here a couple of times a year to check in, pay my bill and pull a few bottles for the coming months, and invariably, I forget what I’ve got stored, so every visit is kinda like xmas, especially when I get to come home with ready to drink up treasures. No matter how long between visits, they always remember me and are happy to answer questions or lend a hand.
For wine, anything over 65 degrees is a heat wave and will cause premature aging. Likewise, keeping it too cold will kill flavors and aromas. Fluctuations in temp will do the cork in as fast as the wine. And exposure to sunlight, that’ll kill a good bottle in a heartbeat. If you’re lucky enough to have a case (or a dozen) of the good stuff, but aren’t quite lucky enough to have a climate controlled cellar in your basement, you owe it to yourself, and your fruit of the vine, to store and age it right.
Speaking of heat waves… never mind the wine, this is an excellent place to hang out on an unseasonably hot day. It’s a chilly 50 – 55 degrees year round. Bring a skinny scarf and fondle your wares. It’s brrrrrtastic!