For many wine enthusiasts, the heart of the home is not the kitchen or the living room—it is a custom wine cellar. It’s a place to indulge a hobby, enjoy quietude and entertain guests. But there is much more to creating a wine-friendly wine environment than removing old coats and boardgames from a hall closet and installing shelves. Given Houston’s hot and humid climate, how does one store and display wine so that it can be served in the best possible condition?

There are companies that will store your wine for you or custom-build an at-home storage system. Nos Caves Vin is a local company that does just that.

Let’s begin with cellaring at home — what does it entail? “It is has to be done properly with the refrigeration and air and vapor barriers so that it maintains climate and doesn’t have any moisture issues,” says Jost Lunstroth, founder and CEO of Nos Caves Vin. “If the two climates meet, then you have a dew point and therefore condensation, which causes mildew, and the drywall falls apart.”

Regardless of who builds your cellar, you need to ensure some basic optimal conditions for the wine: The temperature in the room should remain a steady 55 degrees for both red and white wines, while humidity should hover in the 70 percent range. This allows for your wine to mature without too many fluctuations that can damage it. Even if you want to have a more natural, or passive, cellar, you have to consider the possibility of mold or mildew, which can damage the labels (an important factor for collectors) and possibly cause air to seep into the corks, which can oxydize the wine.

Installing a custom home wine cellar costs anywhere from $20,000 to $120,000 and averages between $40,000 and $70,000. The cost, of course, depends entirely on the size and design of the project. Lunstroth notes that it is best to install a wine cellar when building or adding onto a home, as renovation of existing space can cost much more than new construction.

Among Nos Caves Vin’s more unusual projects was a double wine cellar installed in an old elevator shaft. The client had the first and second floor of the elevator renovated: red wine for dinner downstairs and a glass of bubbles at bedtime upstairs. Custom wine cellars can take anywhere from two months to three years to install. As any contractor will tell you, client requests and changes often slow down a project.

Lunstroth believes wood is the best material to construct racks in any wine cellar. Some people like light-colored wood, like maple or oak. Some like dark wood like walnut. Yes, you could use glass, plastic or metal racks, but in general wood is by far the best choice for a cellar. He notes that you should avoid woods that are soft and not dense (such as pine) and woods that are naturally fragrant (such as cedar).

To date, the oddest request he has received was to install a cheese storage of sorts in the wine cellar.  (Yes, we thought this was pretty brilliant, too). Lunstroth admitted he had to do quite a bit of research because the humidity for cheese is higher than for wine. To the client’s disappointment (and ours), it never did work out. But we still think someone should make this work, as it does in ancient wine caves in Italy along the Amalfi Coast.

What about the electric bill for an at-home wine cellar?  “We have been told that it is basically the same as running a house refrigerator because the room is sealed so well and the equipment we use is so efficient,” says Lunstroth.

For those who don’t have the space for a home cellar or perhaps just need a little extra wine storage Nos Caves Vin offers a membership plan for wine storage at their two locations (in the Village and in Memorial).

Inside a locker at Nos Caves Vin 

They offer an array of locker sizes, all climate controlled. The cost varies, so call for a quote. One aspect that members find favorable is that Nos Caves Vin takes care of all wine deliveries for its members and places the wine in their lockers. Wine services manager Chuck Jenkins along with GM Kate Doke also assist members with building their collection and organizing private tastings.

Along with the individual lockers for each member, Nos Caves Vin has a lounge stocked with better-quality stemware where members can open a bottle of wine and enjoy with friends or business associates. (We think all divorce attorneys should invest in a membership. This could make for much happier meetings.) There is also a room that can be reserved for private tastings, meetings or catered dinners. Non-members are also allowed to reserve this private room.

While having a personalized wine cellar or off-site storage locker would be every wine drinker’s dream, there is no foul in enjoying a $10 Cabernet while watching your DVR in bed. Here at My Table, we support all manners of wine drinking.

NOS CAVES VIN, 2501 Wroxton, 713-524-2554, and 835 Frostwood, noscavesvin.com