Testimonial for Rosehill Wine Cellars from a Recent Wine Cellar Installation Client

Testimonial for Rosehill Wine Cellars from a Recent Wine Cellar Installation Client

Now that Christmas / New Year holidays are over and family visitors have left us, I thought I would write you a testimonial about my new wine cellar. Here goes:

Rosehill Wine Cellars is Highly Recommended

walnut glass wine cellar door with lockMy new wine cellar was completed in early December 2018 and I absolutely love it!

Without any hesitation, I recommend Rosehill Wine Cellars Inc. for turnkey design and installation. Why am I giving such a strong recommendation? Here’s why:

1. Design & Quotation: Gary LaRose showed up on time at our home and quickly set to work looking over the area selected for the cellar. He took careful measurements, then re-measured a couple of dimensions again to ensure he was very accurate. He talked through some options for the cooling equipment and racking, as well as cellar design. He then recommended I drop into Rosehill’s showroom to look at some racking choices, materials and finishes, as well as cooling equipment choices. I had already been to the showroom, just before I decided to add Rosehill to my shortlist, but I went back a couple of times to get ideas and make decisions on various items. Rosehill’s west end showroom is well laid out and offers several material choices, colours and racking options, which makes the decision-making a lot easier.

A week later I received very good drawings and a detailed quotation. I had a short list of three contractors for this project and without any question, Rosehill’s drawings and quotation were the most detailed and easiest to understand. They also offered the best use of the space, as my cellar was not that big (7ft x 8ft). After some discussion with all three contractors, I narrowed it down to two and then had detailed discussions with both. After a couple of discussions, it became clear that Gary’s experience and practical approach offered the best value for money and a proven track record with lots of satisfied customers to which he could refer. Rosehill’s design was a little more imaginative than the other two contractors, particularly the diamond shelf below the stone counter. Also, I really wanted a glass door and glass window beside the door so I could see into the cellar and have its ambience add to our beautiful basement recreation area. Gary came up with a very nice design to achieve this objective, but do it in a way that did not weaken what was a support wall for our two storey home.

So I made the decision to go with Rosehill, subject to a satisfactory contract. The contract paperwork was simple, easy to understand and the milestone payments set to work stages completed was fair.

2. Room Preparation – What’s really good about Gary is the communication. When he says his team will arrive on site to work on a certain date and time, they show up and don’t waste time getting to work. The first stage (stripping down the room and preparing it for racking) was done very well. I kept the same tile floor (Gary’s suggestion) to save money, and it looks great with the new cellar. Everything else was re-done, including framing, spray foam for insulation and very precise square joints, door and window framing by Rosehill’s very skilled tradesman, Chris. It’s important to note that Chris was employed by Rosehill and not an independent contractor. The spray foam people were a contractor, but Chris was there to supervise and ensure this task was done as agreed. What was appreciated by us was that every night Chris was tidy up and put away slip covers so that we could continue to use the rest of our basement living area. Also, Chris very carefully covered all nearby furniture and carpeting with plastic to protect it. Even the tile floor in the cellar was covered over to protect it during construction.

3. Problem Solving – When the room was stripped down, we were surprised to find a solid concrete wall on one side of the cellar room that made placing the equipment room just the other side of the wall not possible. Gary quickly arrived to discuss the problem with Chris and myself. They quickly came up with an amended design for the equipment that involved a ceiling mounted cooling unit instead, but with the compressor still outside. This solution turned out to be very good and works well in the cellar.

4. Final Racking Design – Gary and Chris both separately re-measured the finished room for the racking a couple of times. The attention to detail and precision was impressive and appreciated. As a result, Gary came up with a suggestion to tweak the design to improve the look of the cellar in terms of crown molding and overall balance with the window and door frames. At the same time he ensured that the bottle count for the cellar was maximized. I looked over the amended drawing and could quickly see this final amendment to the racking would look much better, so I gave the green light to do it. This started the racking design, which included walnut wood with a bees wax finish — have a look at this in the Rosehill showroom as it’s stunning.

5. Final Racking Installation – Chris returned six weeks later to start installation of the racking. Accompanying Chris was Rosehill’s delivery truck that had all the carefully packaged racking material, including beautiful a beautiful stone counter top I had seen in the Rosehill showroom (“antique leather”). After carefully unloading everything, Chris started to work. His experience and professionalism was evident, as he methodically prepared the installation. Its also important to note that Rosehill has its own carpentry shop next to the showroom that does all the racking and cabinet building and finishing — this ensures that what you get is exactly what was agreed in the drawings. The installation by Chris was done in careful sequence, including getting the two sub-contractors (mechanical cooling equipment and glass window/door) were brought in for measuring and installation at the appropriate times. Again, Chris was always on hand when they were there to ensure that what they did met Rosehill’s requirements and commitments to me.

6. Attention to Detail – There were lots of pleasant surprises when the installation was progressing and completed. Here are a few: (1) Walnut door leading to adjacent cold storage was solid and beautifully crafted. It was fitted perfectly and included a special weather strip built into the bottom of the door that comes down automatically when the door is closed. (2) Chris checked with me on location of ceiling lighting installation, window location and size next to glass door to ensure I was happy with it. (3) Glass window its a double thermal pane for better insulation performance. (4) The walnut wood used for the racking, wooden door to cold storage room, crown and floor molding was well chosen of the highest quality. (5) glass door is solidly hinged to floor and self-closes. (6) crown molding on ceiling, door frames and floor molding is very detailed and installed perfectly. (7) the warranty paperwork for the mechanical cooling equipment was completed and submitted to the manufacturer by Rosehill on my behalf. (8) During the cellar work, for a reasonable extra charge, Gary also did a few add on jobs for us, in addition to the cellar, that were much appreciated: A few odd-shaped kitchen shelves were cut to fit an odd shaped pantry; special door to access water meter and water shut-off valve in basement; some drywall work around the cold storage room furnace ductwork.

7. Anything I didn’t like? – Really there was nothing, mainly because Gary was very upfront about everything (including the timetable), so that my expectations were always met or exceeded. Remember, it does take months not weeks to get a cellar installed properly, so don’t expect it to be wrapped up quickly. Also, it’s done in two stages for very good reason: (a) Completion of the cellar room preparation comes first, then the cellar room is re-measured to ensure the racking, cabinets, door/window frames, crown molding, etc. fit perfectly, it has to be re-measured carefully so everything fits like a glove — and it does. (b) After re-measuring the finished room, then the racking, cabinets etc. was all built in Rosehill’s shop, which took about 6 weeks before they returned for racking installation. Every item in the contract was honoured by Rosehill.

8. Finished Product – We now have a beautiful and very functional 650 bottle wine cellar that we enjoy. Our friends and relatives were very impressed and complimentary when they saw it for the first time over the Christmas holidays. It has added to the value of our house and will give us many years of enjoyment. Our thanks to Gary and his excellent team at Rosehill Wine Cellars.

Best regards

Brian Barr

Wine Pairing, Salmon and Pinot Noir

Wine Pairing, Salmon and Pinot Noir

I have a couple of friends who told me they “don’t like wine” but claim to be “foodies.” I don’t believe in double negatives, so I conducted an experiment. I invited them over with the only stipulation being they leave the bottle of vodka at home. I have a hard time believing anyone doesn’t like wine. It’s the drink of the gods, liquid currency, ART! To be honest, if they didn’t leave my house with a new appreciation, it would be the last dinner we would ever share due to the fact that we obviously have nothing in common.

I decided to go all out for them by creating a stunning menu, intentionally revealing perfect balance. It must be said that the entire evening started out with giving my friends a leisurely tour of my custom wine cellar. There was no hum to be heard from my trusty wine cooling unit from Wine Guardian, since it’s so quiet; but the atmosphere had the obviously perfectly temperature for wine storage. The custom wine racking evoked oohs and aahs. With all duly impressed, we next went to my meticulously set dining table and got comfortably seated. The lighting was just right, to enhance the wining and dining experience.

Armstrong Cellar

A custom wine cellar is the perfect place to store your wine collection.

As an appetizer, I served antipasti with Sauvignon Blanc. I started them with a “sweeter” wine to ease them into their experience. Dinner was salmon over a lentil beet salad paired with a rich Pinot Noir. We were literally scraping our plates and fighting over the last drops of pinot!  Dessert was where I had to show off, of course.  Lemon poached pears with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from Domaine de Durban, because I AM a true connoisseur.

Now I am happy to report that those same friends are bigger wine snobs than me! They actually began to pair their wines ahead of time when they do their weekly meal prep, simplifying their work week while still enjoying the pleasures of wine and food marriages. My friends have also invested in wine cabinets, to keep their wine supply properly stored. My hope for them is to someday have a custom wine cellar of their own.

Everyone knows that wine goes great  with blind dates, but they don’t realize that it can actually make food taste better. Magic happens when the tannins in the wine become attracted to the proteins in the meat,  bypassing the proteins in your saliva, causing the wine to become a softer experience in your mouth. Flavors you would have never achieved take over when you simply sip smarter.  Sometimes, you might have to fake it til you make it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be great every time! Technology makes it too easy to get suggestions for what wines will complement your signature dishes. You do not need to be a sommelier or even a wine connoisseur to appreciate the miracles of combination.

Customer feedback from FiAMMA Ristorante

We always, always love and appreciate customer feedback … especially when it’s from one of our favourite restaurants, FiAMMA. YUM!

Our walnut wine cabinet your company built and installed is not only gorgeous but it’s absolutely amazing! It has completely changed the look of my restaurant FiAMMA and I appreciate all your hard work. You can certainly acknowledge and appreciate when something has been custom build and I love it. Your team is truly professional and a pleasure to be around.

I will refer you to anyone I know who requires a custom build wine beauty because that is the product your company delivers- stunning wine cabinets and racking displays.

Once again, THANK YOU!

Grace Burdi
Fiamma Ristorante, Mississauga

pic_fiamma

Customer appreciation photos from R Cohen in Toronto

“We purchased modular racks from Rosehill Wine Cellars last year for our cellar. They worked amazingly. The stone entrance was an after thought. And we are so happy that we came up with that idea. That room is now where we start our weekends. Thanks!”

Thank you for sharing your cellar with us!

Rosehill Wine Cellars and Dunmora Estate

Dunmora Estate

Rosehill had a presence in the multi-million dollar restoration of Dunmora Estate, a lovely early 20th century estate on Vancouver Island, just outside of Victoria on Saanich Inlet.

rosehill luxury cellar

Abstract Developments, with whom we’ve designed and constructed a number of wine cellars in customary new home builds, had an irregularly-shaped room and two-foot thick, original stone walls. There was also a very low ceiling to deal with in this restoration. We eventually agreed on an ONAM CW30W wine cellar cooling unit and a number of 6.1 Classic kit wooden wine racks.

This 2010 restoration property is finally on the market with an asking price of $8.9M.