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Planning a cellar

Posted by KraTOR on February 2, 2004 at 09:47:39:
Hello fellow wine lovers!
I stumbled on this forum while at the audio asylum and wow, this is great!
A little background, I started enjoying fine (vintage) wines about 4 years ago and I'm ready to get deeper into this hobby. This is a general breakdown of what I like to drink:
Reds: Zins, Cabs, Chianti, Grenache, and petite syrah. I donâ€™t mind Syrah/Shiraz or Merlot as long as they are very good quality and I love the variation between old and new world.
Whites: Oaked chardonnay, sauvignon, and gewÃ¼rztraminer, are my favs but Iâ€™ve also had some nice Rieslings.
Misc. Iâ€™m a huge sticky fan! I love Muscats, Tokays, late harvests and of course Icewines. Ports, Dowâ€™s 20 tawny is a current fav but I like rubies (vintage) as well. Not much of a fan of sparklers though. Had a very nice vintage champers some time ago (it was about 10 yrs old with moderate fizz) and tasted more like a good white wine but thatâ€™s it. My wife is the bubbly fan in the family! I do love a Muscato dâ€™asti on the deck in the summer though :)
We just built a new house and I want to put a modest cellar in the basement. I installed a Marvel 30 bottle grotto in the kitchen but it's pretty much full. Not to mention that it's not the right environment for long term cellaring. My basement cellar will have racking on two walls for a total of 16 - 20 feet in length. The room will be somewhat triangular with an area of around 600 sq ft. I plan on using 2x6 insulated outer walls, 6 mil vapor barrier, green wall board, tile flooring, halogen pots, and a full glass insulated (exterior) door. Iâ€™ve seen 3 or 4 "cooling systems" online and was wondering about recommendations. For a one piece cooler, it will have to be vented into an adjacent room used as an office on one side, or a bathroom on the other. What about noise? Is a split system worth the extra $$$??
Also, what is the take on larger formats? I understand that they take longer to age but Iâ€™d like to have one row for Magnums, and another one or two for 375 ml bottles (stickeys).
Let me know of your experiences, any special concerns, tips and tricks etc. Many thanks in advance.. ciao!