by Rosehill Blog | Jan 13, 2019 | Customer Stories, Wine Cellar Design, Wine Cellar Installation
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
My 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
by Charlotte | Jan 18, 2018 | Rosehill Wine Cellars News, Wine Cellar Design, wine racking
All true wine lovers dream of having their own wine cellar; it’s only natural. Although wine cellars don’t come cheap, it could make sense to invest in one for your home.
Adding Custom Wine Cellar Can Add Value
There always seems to be a way to do those things that mean the most, and sometimes you never know until you take steps in the right direction. Focusing on perceived hurdles such as the cost of a quality wine cellar cooling unit from a top manufacturer like Wine Guardian or WhisperKOOL could keep you from realizing your dream. Start, instead, by checking out the following five good reasons to invest in a wine cellar.
A custom wine cellar is an excellent investment. (Photo: Rosehill Wine Cellars)
1. Protect your Wine Collection
A properly built wine cellar provides the perfect environment for wine to age and reach its peak. The components of a wine cellar include the following and more:
- Insulation from ceiling to floor
- A wine cellar cooling unit that provides the correct temperature with minimal fluctuation
- Wine racks
- Lighting with no UV rays
- Protection from vibration, to keep wine bottles still and stable
2. Organize your Wine Collection
When a wine collection begins to grow, it can be difficult to keep track of and find a particular bottle you may be looking for. Lack of organization often means forgetting about wine you’ve purchased. It’s not unusual for wine bottles in a state of disarray to be neglected past their time of peak enjoyment.
Wine racks, display shelves, and areas for bin storage are among the choices you have, as far as how to store, organize, and display your wine in a wine cellar. With a shelving system, you can more easily manage your wine and make sure you pop corks before the best drinking date has passed.
3. Enhance the Enjoyment of Wine and Food
When you get down to it, the true purpose of a wine cellar is to make it possible to safely store bottles of wine and then open and drink them at exactly the right time. Wine goes through a chemical process that can take years or decades. Oenologists and sommeliers have gone before us to make determinations about just how long particular vintages should be stored before being poured into a decanter and served with a complementary meal. It’s tough, however, to quickly grab that perfect bottle of wine when it’s needed if you’ve been unable to store it an organized way in a wine cellar.
4. Increase Home Value with Wine Cellar
The resale value of your home can be increased significantly if you have a custom wine cellar. Many realtors have learned by experience that wine cellars can be of more value than kitchen upgrades during resale. One of the challenges when selling a home is standing out in a way that snags buyers, and a wine cellar is one of the features that attracts the right kind of attention.
5. Wine Cellar Showpiece
It is highly fashionable, not to mention fun, to bring friends for a tour of your wine cellar. With a tasting nook and great lighting, it can be a truly memorable experience. Show off your wonderful wine collection and beautiful wooden wine racks with confidence. Wine cellars have secure entrances that can keep out teens, on-site workmen, and drunk friends.
Custom Wine Cellar Construction
Get started with the process of possibly having the wine cellar you really want for your wine collection. Contact the dedicated wine cellar construction experts at Rosehill Wine Cellars. They specialize in wine cellars; in fact, that’s the only type of construction they do anymore. Rosehill offers a selection of the best wine cellar cooling units, including WhisperKOOL and Wine Guardian. Due to their experience and knowledge, there’s no one better to help you determine whether a wine cellar is the right investment for you.
by Charlotte | Jan 4, 2018 | Rosehill Wine Cellars News, Thirsty Thursday
A custom wine cellar makes organization of your wine collection easy (Rosehill Wine Cellars Custom Wine Cellar)
It doesn’t take long for a disorganized collection of wine bottles to feel unmanageable, especially if your storage space doesn’t have wine racks. If you are a wine lover with a growing number of favorite vintages, then constructing a custom wine cellar may be just what you need to simplify your life and better enjoy your collection. A wine cellar cooling unit from a leading manufacturer will help to ensure that your wine is properly stored. Wine racks will provide you with a system for organizing your wine and storing it so that the corks don’t dry out. Anyone who has crates and many individual bottles of wine will benefit from a well-organized custom wine cellar.
Wine Bottle Organization Tips
A wine collection may begin with a few favorite vintages and surprisingly grow to the point that you don’t know exactly what you have or where to find it. The worst part about it is that some of the wine could be at its peak or going beyond the best time to drink it. This defeats the purpose of a wine collection. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all the wine nicely organized so that you know where to go for that perfect bottle for a particular meal with dinner?
There are many ways to categorize a wine collection in a wine cellar. The best way to organize largely depends on the types of wine the collector purchases. The following are a few helpful ideas:
- Put all of the bottles of a particular wine type in the same row. This could mean rows for red wine, white wine, champagne, other sparkling wines, and dessert wine.
- Place bottles in rows according to the type of grape, such as Bordeaux, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Noir.
- In the various categories that you set up in your wine cellar, order the wine bottles according their drink date.
- Another approach is to keep a “drink now” section with all the different varieties in your collection.
The Right Atmosphere
Organization is important, but nothing about a wine cellar is as essential as the fact that you can rely on the wine being properly stored for many years. Simply placing wine in a room with a wine cooling unit doesn’t provide the right kind of protection against potential temperature fluctuations. A wine cellar has insulation from floor to ceiling. Bottles are also protected from harm caused by UV rays and vibrations. The fact that you have many bottles and crates of wine is proof enough that a wine cellar could be a daily asset that simplifies your life.
by Charlotte | Sep 6, 2017 | Rosehill Wine Cellars News
Custom Wine Cellar by Rosehill Wine Cellars
So you have a new wine cabinet or custom wine cellar in Toronto, and you need to brush up on your wine words? The lingo associated with wine is as distinctive as the beverage itself. As a wine lover, you don’t want to be perceived as a poser. There are wine terms that should be in your vocabulary, to intelligently navigate a conversation about wine. Knowing the terms can prevent inadvertently making dumbfounded expressions, if in the presence of a schooled wine connoisseur.
6 Basic Wine Words you Should Know
Knowing wine words isn’t all about making an impression. The more you know, the better equipped you are to shop for your wine cellar stock. You could be missing out on your favorite variety, if you don’t study and explore. Wine terms can help open up a greater understanding about this beloved alcoholic drink and the many kinds there are to choose from. The following are some basic wine words:
Varietal – Varietal wine is named after the grape used to produce it. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay are all varietals. Wine must consist of at least 75% of a particular grape type to be a varietal. These are considered the purest of wines.
Regional – Bordeaux, Champagne, and Burgundy are all French cities and names of regional wines. The world’s best wines are produced in particular regions. The smaller the region a wine is from, the higher the wine quality.
Weight – In the wine world, it’s important to know about weights. If a wine is full-bodied or heavy, it is usually dark in color and high in alcohol content and has a strong flavor. Examples of heavy wines are Merlot, Cabernet, and Zinfandel. A light-bodied wine is leaner and more delicate. Examples are Lambrusco and Beaujolais, also known as Gamay.
Oxidize – If wine isn’t properly stored in the right conditions of temperature and humidity in a wine cabinet or a customer wine cellar in Toronto, the result can be that too much air gets into the bottle. Exposure to too much air causes wine to oxidize. Oxidized wine loses freshness and turns a brownish color.
Aperitif – A dry wine served before a meal for the purpose of stimulating the appetite is called an “aperitif.” Champagne and other dry white wines are ideal aperitifs.
Digestif – A wine served after a meal for the purpose of aiding digestion is called a “digestif.” Examples of digestif include brandy and fortified wines such as port, vermouth, and madeira.
Custom Wine Cellars
At Rosehill Wine Cellars, we know all about wine plus much of the lingo. That’s why we are able to build custom wine cabinets and custom wine cellars in Toronto that preserve wine in optimal conditions.
by Charlotte | Jul 9, 2017 | Rosehill Wine Cellars News
Become familiar with what you can learn from a wine label, to improve wine selection skills.
In a custom wine cellar with presentation shelves, there are usually wine bottles that are especially appreciated for their labels. A wine label contains a lot of information. Some of the details provide critical insight on what’s inside the bottle. Other aspects of a wine label can be pure nonsense. In this first post in a series about wine labels, learn about the two primary styles of wine labels, with an emphasis on appellation.
Wine Labels Identified by Brand Name
There are two primary wine label styles typically found in stores. Wines are identified by brand name or designated by appellation credentials. When a wine is labeled by brand, the grape it’s made from is identified on the front label, such as “chardonnay.”
Wine Labels Identified by Appellation Credentials
For a wine with labeling identified by appellation credentials, quality level rules and regulations are relied upon to communicate what’s inside the wine bottle. The basic definition of “appellation” is: A vineyard or region in which a winegrower has legal authorization to identify and market wine. Chablis, for example, is an appellation wine. There is no mention of the grape, which is chardonnay, nor is there mention of it being, for example, an unoaked chardonnay.
The appellation system can be intimidating, as a way to categorize and classify wine. To make the best wine purchases, it is good to become acquainted with names and acronyms for appellations. The best wine typically carries a name with more specific regional boundaries. Designations for appellations differ according to country.
The United States
The American Viticulture Area (AVA) system originated in 1980. The AVA provides insights on cultural, geographic, and grape-growing features that affect the taste and quality of wine. Areas parceled into sub-appellations tend to make wines of the highest quality, according to opinion. For example, sub-appellations within the North Coast AVA are the Napa Valley AVA and Calistoga AVA (which is within the Napa Valley (AVA). Across the U.S., there are more than 230 AVAs.
The most confusing aspect of AVAs is that a quality-based or regional hierarchy does not exist.
France
Since 1937, France has organized wine with the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée/Protégée (AOC/AOP) system. In France, there are more than 360 AOCs, and most of those are within 11 primary wine growing regions, including Bordeaux, Loire, and Alsace. The AOP system in France applies rules to virtually every aspect of wine production, to help wine collectors choose what to stock their custom wine cellars and wine racks with. This includes minimum alcohol levels, aging requirements, varieties of grapes that can be utilized, and density of vineyard planting. When you understand French appellations and the AOC/AOP system, you have a much better idea of what to expect in a bottle of wine. A Crémant d’Alsace Rosé, for instance, is required to be 100% Pinot Noir.
Contact Rosehill Wine Cellars
One of the reasons we get excited about appellation at Rosehill Wine Cellars is that we know customers familiar with wine-growing regions share our passion for wine. Proper storage is essential. Learn more about wine labels in this ongoing series.
