Ok, moved to this house recently that is really nice, but comes without a cellar due to flooding in the area (not the house itself). But what to do with 200+ bottles of reasonably fine wine that needs to be stored. Drinking up is not an option = waste of money. The obvious answer is a wine fridge. But they are super large and sturdy and still only provide limited storage. For my number of bottles they cost around a 1000 pounds, which I would rather spend on some more wine.
Under stairs cupboard seems to be the answer that everybody recommends, but we keep shoes in the understairs as well and as hygienic as we are we would still not want the Chateau Latour (wishful thinking) to taste of my old trainers 8-(( And cork, as wine lover will tell you, is no barrier for most smells (including spice and herbs in the kitchen btw). The last option I can think of is the garden shed. Now we live in the North where temps don't raise very high in the summer; I have no problem to allow the temp to reach 20C or so for a few days/weeks and I have no problem to allow the temp to go down to about 10C or so. But how to achieve this?
My limited knowledge of thermal insulation indicates that it should be possible to get somewhere by insulating a compartment of the shed maybe from the ground to halfway up at the farthest end. That limits the door heat/cold and also keeps temperature reasonably cold, as the ground level away from the sun is rather fresh in the first place. But if I overdo my insulation, then my Chateau Latour starts to pick up the smell of the insulating material. By and large, wine should be stored in reasonably ventilated areas. And here is where my wisdom ends, I cannot insulate against heat yet allow ventilation without some or another cooling device. Or can I?
Fred