Marko's hints

Now that I have 3 batches going, and am about to start a 4th and 5th batch, I really need to start thinking about setting up some more permanent and stable storage for my carboys and all the bottles Im going to have.

Currently my three batches sit in carboys on my kitchen counter and I’ve been leaving the whole house A/C on 73-74 degrees while I’m at work. Obviously not ideal. I live in Northern California where it’s already in the low 90′s and about to get into the 100′s.

Also, as I bottle this stuff I’m going to need a good, cool spot for aging/storing the bottles

My idea was to convert my “computer” room into a winemaking/tasting room. It’s about a 10′x10′ room, and is already outfitted with countertops along two walls (used for building and working on computers). These will be perfect for winemaking. It also has a a closet that is about 4′x5′ with a real door on the closet (as opposed to sliding closet doors).

Now I figure it simply isn’t practical to keep the entire room at the temperature needed for storage. So I figured what I could do is keep the room itself cooled by the main A/C in the house, keeping it at about 70-75 degrees. I wont be storing any wine in the room itself. Only doing primary fermentation, racking, and bottling operations.

Then I would revamp the closet a bit to outfit it as a cellar.
Tear out drywall, extend framing and double-insulate. Re-drywall with greenboard.
Install an exterior, insulated door.
Build a bottom shelf along three sides of the closet for storing carboys. I estimate I can fit about 6-8 carboys on a shelf. Then above the carboys, do wine racks all the way to the ceiling.