If you are like most wine collectors, then your wine cellar is likely your favorite room in your home. The right bottle of wine can instantly bring back happy memories or even take you back to another place with just a single sip. Within your collection of wines, there is sure to be lots of quality bottles just waiting to be discovered.
Unfortunately, selecting the type of wood you want your wine cellar to be built can be a daunting task, especially if you are an inexperienced wine collector. To make this selection easier for you, there are mainly three kinds of wood to choose from; pine, redwood and mahogany. Each of these wood options gives a specific look, while all of them maintain a unique elegancy that most wine collectors want in their wine cellar. Let’s discuss these woods in greater details to make your selection decision easier.
Mahogany
Mahogany made wine cellars have the extra benefit of being extremely resistant to warping due to humidity. Wine storage rooms are typically more humid than the rest of the house. Over time, the humid conditions affect how the wood they are made of hold up structurally. Swelling and warping are non-issues where mahogany built cellars are concerned since this wood has a natural capacity to maintain its shape consistently through a wide range of humidity levels.
Along with its durability, mahogany looks quite elegant in a wine cellar, something that makes a lot of people opt for it in the construction process. While its color might not be as dark as some wine collectors would have preferred, it is darker than most conventional woods that are used in wine cellar construction. For this reason, mahogany is a relatively popular wood in wine related furniture construction in this country, and using it in your wine cellar can help to keep a specific look you might be trying to maintain.
While a majority of woods can be easily stained so as to achieve the exact hue you are looking for, mahogany takes staining exceptionally well. This allows you to go into very dark shades without completely drowning out the grain patterns.
Pine
If you are planning to convert an existing space into a wine cellar, then you might want to consider utilizing pine wood to create the racking and shelving space. Utilizing pine will keep the costs down as it is by far cheaper than either mahogany or redwood. Unfortunately, pinewood is not the best at holding up to humidity. So if you are planning to use a climate control system with your wine cellar, and which will maintain a slightly higher humidity than the rest of your home, then pinewood is not recommended since it will eventually warp.
Other than its fairly low costs, pine wood is relatively easier to stain, and lacquers take to it quite easily. It can be stained in just about any way you desire, in both solid and transparent colors. If you are looking to go somewhat non-conventional in your design or decorating choices, then pine might be the way to go, particularly if you will be utilizing a system that regulates humidity in your cellar.
Redwood
Redwood trees basically do well in humid conditions, making them well suited for use in a wine cellar. The natural oils found in redwood repel moisture keeping the wood from losing its form. This ensures it stay exactly as it was originally placed for many decades to come. Because redwood is less porous than most kinds of wood, this makes it fairly difficult to stain. In this regard, most water and oil based stains can’t get inside the wood fibers as easily as you would have preferred. So the natural color of the wood is almost always going to be your best option.
There are two types of redwoods that can be opted for; Premium redwood and All-heart redwood. All-heart redwood is typically darker in color than its premium counterpart. Premium redwood is lighter in color and is fairly cheaper than the All-heart variety. However, it is just as durable as the All-heart variety, but the color variance is higher on each piece.
