From dream to reality | The ideal wine cellar

Any renovation requires a good deal of planning and crowns a long-term process. Once a month, we will discover projects of various sizes, which could give ideas.

Danielle Bonneau
The Press

Vanessa Gagnon and Pierre-Luc Charlebois carefully planned the construction of their home, not far from the Richelieu River. Their house, of course, had to have a wine cellar.

Pierre-Luc Charlebois discovered wine at the same time as his spouse since their love story began in high school, when they were 15 years old. They have been together for almost 20 years. The interest of the young man developed over time and significant trips to Europe and turned into a real passion.

They started by having a small metal bottle rack in their apartment in Sherbrooke, during their studies. Then he received a gift of a sixty-bottle wine cooler that ended up overflowing as his taste became more refined. Their first house had a glazed cellar of about 300 bottles, very pretty in the dining room, which quickly filled up.

While they were at the planning stage, in 2017, a report on a cellar called Le Tonneau, produced by the Quebec company CellArt, caught the attention of Mr. Charlebois. From then on, the idea of ​​integrating a room, which would correspond to the rest of the house and would still be beautiful in 50 years, began to germinate.

“That project was particularly successful,” he recalls. It was atypical, with rounded walls. The theme of a barrel for a wine cellar had a meaning that I found interesting. I didn’t necessarily want a classic Tuscan-style wine cellar. It’s beautiful, but it’s less to our liking. It went less with the signature of the house, which is more contemporary. The Tonneau joined the traditional and the modern. I contacted Jonathan Primeau, at CellArt, and we chatted. The exterior of our house is largely made of stone and we live in a somewhat agricultural area. To have a little stone in the cellar and some wood, it brings to mind the exterior of the house and the atmosphere of the area. But the wine cellar remains modern, with a contemporary design like that of the house. It is the meeting between two worlds. »

On the ground floor

They didn’t skimp elsewhere in the house, which has a geothermal system for heating and cooling. As far as the wine cellar is concerned, the owners have “paid for themselves with a breathtaking project”, underlines Pierre-Luc Charlebois.

For Vanessa Gagnon, it could not be otherwise. “As soon as we decided to build ourselves, it was also essential for me to have a cellar, because I know how much importance Pierre-Luc attaches to the good conservation of bottles. It was also important for the wine cellar to stand out because it is glazed and opens onto the basement. The cellar is unique, but it joins the rest of the house a lot and the house joins it. Even if wine is not a passion for me, as it is for Pierre-Luc, we both benefit from it. »

Thanks to the slope of the land, the basement is on the ground floor. It is therefore well lit. For now, a pool table and lounge occupy part of the space, which has yet to be fully furnished. The wine cellar, during the too rare gatherings organized since the couple moved in, in June 2018, has proven to be a very popular meeting place.

“We knew quite a bit where we would place it,” says Mr. Charlebois. I didn’t want it to be in a dark corner, which wouldn’t be visible from anywhere. It is still a substantial investment, which was well worth it. As long as I had a beautiful space, which I intended to use, I wanted to highlight it. When we started making the plans, it wasn’t too clear what we were going to do with the second piece back. Jonathan Primeau suggested making two areas in the cellar, including one for the most beautiful, more special bottles, to keep a little longer. At the front, there is enough room to move around and meet up with our loved ones. Because wine is something to share. »

His intention was not to store 3000 bottles. “It’s a bit futile to collect bottles, it’s not my goal,” he says.

The storage system used, made up of thin metal rods, highlights the bottles, he points out. Most of the storage takes place in the forward room, where around 660 bottles can be stored. There is also an island, used for large magnums. In the back, the storage capacity is around 500 bottles. The glass has UV protection and the storage conditions are the same in both places. “Honestly, sometimes the borders merge,” he admits.

The couple’s satisfaction, meanwhile, is unequivocal.