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Store Hours: Mon to Wed: 10:30 to 6:30 Thurs & Fri: 10:00 to 8:00 Saturday: 10:00 to 6:00 Sunday: Noon to 6:00 We are located in the cellar of the Historic Alberta Hotel Building 137 - 8th Ave. SW Calgary, AB T2P 1B4 T: 503.0730 F:261.9641 email: info@cellarwinestore.com click for a map You must be 18 years old or over to purchase alcohol. The Cellar can only ship wine, spirits, glasses, and other breakables within Calgary. |
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What is a Wine Cellar? The most basic definition is a room that is dark and maintains a constant, cool temperature. This can be anything from a spot under the basement stairs to a grand room built just for that purpose. The first thing you need to know is that, no matter what kind of cellar you have, wine doesn’t like change. Constant temperature and humidity are very important, especially in Calgary where the outside temperature can fluctuate as much as sixty degrees between summer and winter, and the air is always extremely dry.
The type of cellar that you need depends on the kinds of wine you have. If you drink through your entire cellar every eighteen months, then something as simple as a dark, relatively cool space will suffice (in the kitchen or behind the furnace are not recommended). If, however, you are keeping that bottle of first growth Bordeaux that Aunt Claudette gave you to commemorate the year you got married, then it must be cellared in a proper way, around 53-59 degrees Fahrenheit (12-15 degrees Celsius). This does not mean that you must build an extensive, walk-in cellar. You can buy portable wine cellars that hold 110-500 bottles; these units maintain the required temperature and have proven to be very reliable. Now let’s suppose that you have been recently bitten by the collecting bug, have outgrown the closet, and want to move on to converting a corner of the basement into your cellar. The space needs to be insulated to approximately R30, with an insulated door. It’s a good idea to plan to install a cooling unit for the space because even an insulated room will swing 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit per year (wine intended to age for a long time prefers not to swing more than 5 degrees F). One last thing: it’s important to plan for growth in your cellar: the basic rule of thumb is to build something that is at least twice as large as your current collection.
Wine needs to vary in temperature as little as possible while ageing so as to adapt to its composition changes slowly. It needs to be damp so that the cork does not contract and allow oxygen to penetrate to the wine, or allow the wine to leak out the top. Sunlight can damage wine (especially champagne, so always keep it at the bottom of the racks); and that horizontal (and even more recently slightly angled) storage provides the cork with the necessary moisture to avoid drying. Temperature: The most important factor in wine storage is temperature, because warmth speeds up the process of reactions and causes wine to age faster. Therefore, the necessity of a cool space for storage is crucial. It is also important to recognize that variance in temperature by more than a few degrees can cause problems for the long-term storage of your wine. Wines can be stored between 45-64 degrees Fahrenheit (7-18 C), with ideal storage at 53 F (12 C). |
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  Typically reserved for fantasies involving butlers, hounds and private jets, your own wine cellar is more attainable, and more compact, than you might think. We stock a variety of modular wine cellars that are no larger than a bar fridge. And we’ll even construct a custom cellar in your home if you ask us to. Of course, we stock all sorts of wines worthy of being stored in a private cellar too. Wine cellars are just one of the many unique things you’ll find in the cellar of the Alberta Hotel. So now you have to figure out if you want a Sub-Zero, and Vintage Keeper, or a dedicated room of racking. |
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