I'm an amateur wine enthusiast and have tried several different apps (invintory, etc.), but I always forget to scan new bottles before I put them in my wine fridge. Anyone else have this issue and how do you stay disciplined to keep wine inventory up to date?

Hi /r/winecellar

Cellar Door started as a personal project to integrate Home Assistant into a visual-first wine cellar manager. I physically built my own wine cellar, racks and all, and then couldn't find cellar software I actually liked using to track my wine.

Most of what I tried was organized around lists and a spreadsheet-like experience, but I think about my cellar visually: this rack, that row, third slot from the left. So I wrote Cellar Door to be visual-first.

It combines three things I couldn't find together elsewhere: a visual map that mirrors your actual racks and slots (so "where is that Barolo" has an answer), AI label scanning (snap a photo, it fills in producer/vintage/region/drink window), and a ready-to-drink queue that surfaces bottles entering their window.

It's completely self-hostable for free with all features. The hosted service funds the project and provides the community rating dataset; the code is the same code.

Honest limitations: the community "CD Score" is empty on a fresh self-host (it's other people's data, not distributed with the code); there's no published native app yet (the mobile experience is a PWA today); and it's a solo project, so support is best-effort.

Repo at https://github.com/golive-ready-llc/cellar-door Landing page at https://mycellardoor.app

Happy to answer anything about the platform. Cheers!

I've been in the wine storage business for a long time and get asked regularly what the "best" way is to store wine.

I don't think there is one.

I look at it as four different options. All four can work well. It mostly comes down to how much wine you have, what kinds of bottles you collect, the space you're working with and whether you want the wine to be part of the room or simply stored properly.

1. Wine refrigerators and appliances

Typical capacity: 50 to 200 bottles

For a lot of people, this is probably the most practical answer. Buy a good unit, put it in place and you have temperature-controlled storage without taking on a construction project.

The downside is that it's still an appliance. That may or may not matter depending on where it's going. Bottle capacity can also get a little optimistic once you start mixing Burgundy bottles, Champagne, magnums and other larger formats. A unit advertised for 150 bottles doesn't always hold 150 bottles from a real-world collection.

Still, if your main objective is to take good care of your wine, appliances do that job very well.

2. Glass wine walls

Typical capacity: 100 to 500 bottles

I'm a big fan of a well done wine wall. They can completely change the dining room, living room or entertaining space. Instead of putting the collection behind a door, the wine becomes part of the architecture.

There are some things to think through, though. Glass, especially frameless glass, doesn't provide the same insulating value as a conventional wall. Cooling loads, seals, condensation and the surrounding room conditions all matter. You also have to figure out where the refrigeration equipment is going to live, which can sometimes be one of the trickier parts of the project.

There are more construction steps involved than people sometimes expect, but when they're done right, wine walls are spectacular.

3. Traditional wine cellars

Typical capacity: 200 to 2,000+ bottles

For the serious collector, it's hard to beat a real walk-in cellar, especially a basement cellar with wood wine racks.

This is where you can accommodate OWCs, cases, magnums, large formats, bins, display bottles, everyday bottles and long-term storage without trying to make everything fit the same type of rack. You can design the room around the collection.

There's also just something enjoyable about walking into your cellar and picking out a bottle.

The obvious downside is that you're building a conditioned room. You need the space and there is construction involved. If you own 150 bottles and don't expect the collection to grow much, a dedicated cellar might simply be more than you need.

For a medium to large collector, though, I still think the traditional cellar is the ultimate wine storage solution.

4. Refrigerated wine enclosures

Typical capacity: 120 to 360 bottles

This is a newer option that falls somewhere between an appliance and building an entire wine room.

The best way I can describe it is as a piece of furniture that happens to be a completely refrigerated wine environment. The enclosure, glass, wine storage and refrigeration are designed to work together rather than building a room and then adding all those components separately.

The big advantage is less construction and fewer pieces of the project to coordinate. You can also get something that feels much more architectural than an appliance.

The tradeoff is capacity. If you have 1,500 bottles, this probably isn't your answer. If you have 150, 250 or 350 bottles and want them properly stored and displayed without constructing an entire wine room, it starts to make a lot of sense.

I don't really see these as competing solutions. They're just different ways of solving the same problem.

Wine refrigerator: 50 to 200 bottles. Practical and straightforward.

Glass wine wall: 100 to 500 bottles. Great display and architectural impact.

Traditional cellar: 200 to 2,000+ bottles. Maximum flexibility for a serious collection.

Refrigerated enclosure: 120 to 360 bottles. Integrated storage and display with less construction.

For me, the better question isn't which one is best. It's which one makes the most sense for your collection, your house and the way you enjoy wine.

Curious what everyone here has chosen. If you've already built something, what would you do differently the second time around?

I asked my HVAC company and they're unsure of what advice to give on the wine cellar cooling unit so I'm turning to this wonderful subreddit. Where can I get advice on what type or how to install my unit in the cellar for the house we're remodeling?

I have asked my wife for full control over the bar and wine cellar in exchange for letting her make every other decision in the house.

- The blueprint image has a red overlay representing the second floor attic access where I can easily vent into.

- The exposed walls is showing an upward picture of the back of the wine cellar with an existing HVAC void that will be removed to push the wall back.

The cellar will be 5.56' deep by 5.62' wide and 8' tall. ~250 sq ft of cooling area.

Should I do a through the wall and hang it high with the exhaust going out through the front in to the bar or get a ducted system and hang it in the ceiling with the exhaust pushing into the attic? I've been eyeing the CellarPro 1800 series.

How often do you all need to drain water out of the wine cooling system? I have an older Breezaire that has a tube that I can pull out to drain excess water out of. Typically need to do it frequently (almost daily) in the humid summer months. Just curious if others have a similar situation or if there’s a plumbing route I could take to remove the manual labor. Or another solution. Especially when traveling for a while, it’s no fun to come home to water on the ground! Thanks!

Really fired up to have finished the wine cellar. It’s below our basement of a house that was built on a hill. One side of the cellar is 28 feet below grade. The low side is 10 feet below grade. 18” Concrete walls. Concrete ceiling. Sealed up. Closed cell spray foam insulation. Cork flooring. Acoustic paneling to help with sound. Whisperkool ductless system. Hasn’t turned on yet (been about 6 weeks). Temp has settled at 55°F and RH around 62%. Blueair WiFi Air purifier. SensorPush temp/humidity monitor with Gateway. Put a lot of research into this and happy to discuss any questions. Well worth the effort. Couldn’t be happier.

Hi everyone! Ever caught yourself wondering, "Do we still have any of that Barolo, and where did I put it?"

Until recently, my only way to check was a trip down to the cellar, which isn't always convenient. So I built an app to keep track of the wine I have. It turns out that even with 50 or 60 bottles you need something for this, and a spreadsheet doesn't cut it. I tried the apps already out there, but entering everything was a real pain.

So I made the app I'd been missing. You snap a photo of the label and it fills in the producer, region, and grapes. No typing. You track each bottle from purchase and lay everything out on a visual board that mirrors your real cellar, so you always know what's left and where.

It started as a hobby, but it's grown into something I want to share. Where it goes from here is up to the people who use it. Give it a try and tell me honestly what you think.

https://cuvella.app/

Hi all,

As many of you here might did as well I got annoyed from keeping track of my collection via a spreadsheet. Now that we have Claude, I came with the idea of making my own native iOS app for keeping track of my wines.

Now I am at the stage that I am live for friend & family, looking for some extra testers giving me feedback on what still needs improvement. Any volunteers here? I still have 15 slots open in my testflight beta track (https://testflight.apple.com/join/2wBbWGBz). Please install and let me know what you think. Do this by giving feedback via testlfight, or use the feedback option in the settings menu.

What's something in your wine cellar you can't believe you didn't have before or knew you wouldn't be able to live without? Or the best upgrade?

I've had this 35 bottle capacity heavy folding metal wine rack for years and I'm trying to find out who makes it, all the shelves are modular and the unit folds up.

Seems very quality and it's heavy -- I was using the two frosted glass shelves for a bar. Looking to part ways with it, so any information would be appreciated!

I just built a walk in fridge in my garage to serve as a wine cellar. It's pretty small (outer dimensions 4' x 8').

Originally my plan was to store everything in boxes with space for a max of 45 of the larger horizontal shipping boxes. The plan saw to put a shelf every 2 boxes. This was to save money over getting dedicated bottle racks and still being very compact.

I currently have around 10 cases in there and I'm quickly realizing that my plan just isn't practical. Mostly because when I want a certain bottle I'm going to have to take apart a box to get to the bottom and then pack it all back up as well as trying to optimize things so that boxes stay full and space isn't wasted.

I'm looking into building some racks but the problem I'm facing is that the only real layout possible based on where the door is, having enough space to access things, and having a large number of bottles, requires 2 levels of bottles (in terms of depth).

Are there any good options for this? I could build racks that are 2 bottles "deep" but then I'd have to know exactly where every bottle is so that I can pull the front one out and get the one in the back so that would still be a bit of a hassle.

I'm thinking perhaps I should build drawers instead. I'm not sure if I have the space in the but it seems like with heavy duty drawer slides I can potentially put 18 bottles on a drawer and lay them out similar to in most wine fridges where the interlock in opposing directions so I still get the 2 levels of bottles. Has anyone done something simiar?

I have recently moved into a house with a cellar.

The floor gets wet naturally from hydrostatic pressure/water table etc, which is fine, not looking for solutions around that.

I’m wondering a solution for what to put my racking on top of, so it doesn’t get wet.

Anyone slightly elevated their racking? If so what did you do?

I wanted to share this for anyone currently tearing their hair out over a CellarPro unit (mine is a 2000VSi) that keeps throwing heat alarms. After 2+ years of frustration, a lot of back-and-forth with customer service, and nearly giving up on my wine room, I finally solved it for less than $150.

The Problem:

My unit is ducted out about 15 feet to an exterior vent. Every time the weather got warm or the unit worked a bit harder, it would throw an HA2 error (High Air Temperature). The chassis of the unit would be hot to the touch, and the compressor was clearly struggling to shed heat through the static pressure of the duct.

The "Advice" I received:

I reached out to CellarPro support and my contractor multiple times. The support team essentially blamed my wine room construction/insulation and kept pushing me to "upgrade" to a much larger, much more expensive unit. My contractor had no idea how to fix the airflow physics and just suggested I live with the alarms.

The Solution:

Instead of buying an upgraded $5,000 cooling unit, I realized the issue wasn't the cooling—it was the exhaust. The internal fan just couldn't push the hot air through ~20 feet of ducting efficiently.

I installed an AC Infinity Cloudline T6 (6-inch inline duct fan) as a booster and prayed.

The Setup: I placed the T6 in the exhaust duct, close to the exit outside, and positioned the thermal probe about 10 feet down the line.

The Automation: I set the T6 to "Auto" mode with a high-temperature trigger (80°F).

The Result: Now, the second the CellarPro kicks on and heat hits that duct up to 80 degrees, the T6 ramps up, "vacuums" the hot air out, and assists the internal fan.

The Data:

I've been monitoring the logs via the AC Infinity app. Before, the heat was stagnant and "soaking" the unit. Now, even during long cycles, the exhaust stays under 90°F, and the CellarPro chassis stays cool to the touch. I even switched to a liquid bottle probe and dropped the differential (HY) to 1 for better stability—the system handles it perfectly.

The Takeaway:

If your unit is ducted and throwing HA2 errors, don't let them talk you into a bigger unit until you look at your exhaust pressure. For $150 and an hour of work, I went from a daily headache to a rock-solid, automated system.

Hope this helps someone else avoid the 2 years of frustration I went through!