Portable Wine Cellars

[Mar]

My love for a good glass of wine has moved me to want to start collecting. However, I'm from Vancouver, BC, and cannot locate any local distributors for portable wine cellars. For cost and room purposes, I would like to start out small (say 100 bottles) and not stinking rich yet so would like to keep the price around $1000 Canadian. Should I give up or is this possible. Any suggestions or anyone selling in my region?

[hotwine]

Mar, suggest you check out wineenthusiast.com. They offer consulting services to help you select a unit to fit your budget. My consultant was Stephanie Bronzo at 1.800.356.8466 ext. 7850 - very helpful in January of '01. Tell her Gil Smith in Texas recommended her.

[Innkeeper]

Before you jump into a temperature/humidity controlled system, take a deep breath. If you live in an abode with an actual cellar, consider a passive system. Works for me just fine. It will cost you about 25% of an active system. Your climate is not a lot different from mine. Maybe a little cooler in the summer, and a little warmer in the winter, but that is to your advantage.<P>Last year I bought a custom made 98 bottle rack of solid construction for $365 U.S. on Long Island, NY and shipped to Maine for $65 U.S. Please consider going this route.

[nicolelovesgrapes]

look in the winespectator at the back end of the pages for all the reputable companies selling wine cabinets and accessories and wine for that matter. They have some wine cabinet manufacturers in canada too. If you are looking on the internet, make sure the retailer has a good reputation too. My friend works in the wine industry and there was a guy out there selling all brands of wine cabinets, then skipping out on the money (small guy), but what i dont like about wineenthusiast and other retailers is that they talk bad about brands they dont sell (although i think they claim they sell all brands) while pushing the brands they are co-owners or have a large commission on. Do your homework, and most companies these days sell direct or recommend their preferred distributor/dealer.