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Estimated Cost to Put in a Wine Cellar (with Examples)

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If you’re thinking about adding a wine cellar to your home anytime soon, then you probably have an abundance of questions about the construction. However, along with construction prices, you’ll also have to consider the overall cost of the project. Since the amount of putting in a wine cellar can be substantial, you’ll have to take some steps and spend some time planning things.

How much does it cost to put in a wine cellar? The average cost paid by many homeowners who have previously installed wine cellars is about $40,000. However, that average price can vary based on the size and capacity of the wine cellar. For example, if you want a room for thousands of wine bottles, you may wind up paying closer to $100,000 for your wine cellar. The construction price for building a wine cellar is usually $300 to $600 per square foot. 

Since there isn’t a lot of information available on the internet today covering how much it costs to build a wine cellar, we created this guide to help you out.

We’ll include the different factors that will affect your price and the various options you can consider for a wine cellar below. That way, when you are ready to make your decision about your wine cellar, you’ll have plenty of knowledge about the topic. 

Estimated Cost to Put in a Wine Cellar

TIP: If you want to check out the best refrigerator for wine storage, I recommend trying out the Avation (18 bottles) compressor refrigerator with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system. You can find this refrigerator by clicking here (Amazon link).

Money-Saving Tips for Building a Wine Cellar

If you can’t afford a wine cellar or lack the needed space, a wine refrigerator is a tremendous option for properly storing and aging wine. I love this model available on Amazon because of its value, efficiency, and ability to be stored free-standing or built into a cabinet. It’s great for red, white, and sparkling wine. 

When it comes to building a wine cellar, you’ll need to consider what you need if you don’t want the construction costs to get out of control. We already mentioned how the size of your wine cellar could increase the value of your estimate.

However, while size does affect the price of your wine cellar, it won’t be the only thing. Other things that can affect your overall cost include the refrigeration you select, your location, the materials you use, and a few other things.

Another decision you’ll have to make is how much of your own time you want to use renovating your wine cellar by yourself.

While you can do some of the work yourself to help cut down the costs of your project, there are certain parts of creating a wine cellar that you should just leave to the experts. 

So, if you are trying to save a bit of money, you can always consider building a smaller-sized wine cellar or making it smaller and not too large, and selecting more affordable materials so that you can cut back on costs.

We’ll be reviewing some information on the materials and costs below to help you make your decision. As we go over that information, you can figure out what might be right for you.

TIP: To learn all the factors and components that make for a great wine cellar, check out this article that goes into amazing detail on the topic. For a complete list of the best wood and materials needed for a good wine cellar, check out this article.

Does a Wine Cellar Increase the Value of a Home?

Another common question many homeowners ask about installing wine cellars is whether or not they’ll get any return on their investment. So, if you are wondering whether or not installing a wine cellar will increase the value of your home, it will.

As long as your wine cellar is completed correctly, you’ll get a substantial return on the money you invest in it. So, if you can complete your wine cellar and do the job well, you’ll be happy with your return if you decide to sell your house later.

Many people appreciate wine, and so chances are, you’ll find a wine lover who will enjoy the wine cellar you’ve built in your home. Plus, you’ll wind up increasing the value of your house on the market.

That means your house would be a stand-out option on the market because your house would offer something not many other homes provide.

Plus, it makes your house look more like an exclusive option, and a one-time opportunity. In that way, your house can be much more attractive to potential homeowners. 

Recommendation box: Everything you need to enjoy your wine as much as possible. All recommended products are personally tested and regularly used by experts from this website (Amazon links):

> Ivation Wine Cooler Energy-efficient wine cooler for 18 bottles with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system.
> Wine RackBeautiful, elegant wood rack for up to 7 bottles and the choice of vertical or horizontal storage.
> Durand Wine OpenerClassic vintage wine opener (we like all these classic staff).
> YouYah Iceberg Wine DecanterThe most beautiful and handy wine decanter we personally use.
> Bormioli Rocco Wine GlassesA set of eight elegant and traditional wine glasses made in Italy.
> Vintorio Wine AeratorSimple but really useful wine aerator for a reasonable price.
> The Original Vacu Vin Wine SaverThe best wine saver on the market in a package with two vacuum stoppers and two wine servers.

And if you want to become a true connoisseur of wine, we recommend reading the book Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine (Amazon link), where you will find all the information you need about winemaking, wine varieties, flavors, and much more.

The Cost of Your Wine Cellar

When you are trying to figure out the price for your wine cellar, one thing you’ll discover is that size is the primary factor when it comes to price. So, what’s the size of your typical wine cellar?

Wine cellars are usually sized at around twenty-five to one-hundred-fifty square feet. At those sizes, your wine cellar would cost anywhere from $15,000 to $62,000. 

However, size isn’t the only thing that will affect the price of your wine cellar. You’ll also need to understand some of the other cost factors you’ll run into when you attempt to get your wine cellar priced. We’ll briefly cover the different factors below so you can start assessing how you’ll stay within your budget. 

  • Depending on the size and location of your wine cellar, it will cost you anywhere from $500 to $25,000 to build.
  • Depending on the design of your wine cellar, you may wind up spending anywhere from $500 to $15,000 on design alone.
  • Depending on the storage capacity you want, you’ll likely be spending anywhere from $300 to $600 per square foot. 
  • Depending on the refrigeration and cooling device you opt for, you’ll likely spend anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000.
  • Depending on the rack material you use for your wine bottles, it will cost you anywhere from $2 to $20 a bottle. 
  • Depending on the temperature and humidity options you opt for, you will likely spend anywhere from $100 to $3500. 
  • Depending on the door you want to use for your wine cellar, you’ll likely spend anywhere from $500 to $3500 on your door.
  • Depending on the floors and walls you want in your wine cellar, you’ll likely spend anywhere from $2500 to $8000. 
  • Depending on the lighting you want to use in your wine cellar, you’ll likely spend anywhere from $150 to $750 on the light alone. 

Now that you understand the different factors that will affect the cost of your wine cellar, we’ll cover each one of these items in a bit more detail below. 

Once you pop the cork, most wines go bad within a day or so. But a Coravin Wine Preservation system (available for a great price on Amazon) can extend the life of your opened wine for weeks or even months. It is awesome. You should check it out and see if it will fit into your lifestyle.

Factor #1: Wine Cellar Location and Size

Estimated costs to put in a wine cellar

The most significant factor that will affect the pricing of your wine cellar is going to be its location and size. The area you want to make into your wine cellar should be free from direct sunlight and also have a consistent temperature.

Depending on where you build your wine cellar, that may affect the price of the renovation or construction as well. The size of your wine cellar will affect the overall price of your wine cellar.

You’ll also need to assess how many bottles you’ll want to store, and any other features you like might. Below we’ll describe some of the typical locations that homeowners have used in the past for their wine cellars and the prices for each one of these items. 

Location: Underground Wine Cellar

If you are planning on placing your wine cellar underground, then you’ll be having your wine cellar built into the floor and pulled up, or you’d pull the cellar up with an automatic feature whenever you want to use it.

More prominent types of underground wine cellars often are built with a walk-down spiral staircase. As far as underground wine cellars go, you’ll probably pay about $10,000 for a basic pull-up version. However, if you want a more massive, customized cellar, then the price is up to $55,000.

TIP: Does light affect wine, or should it be stored in the dark? Find out here. Read this article to find out if you should store wine in the garage.

Location: Basement Wine Cellar

Many people use their basements when they want to create wine cellars. If you’re considering getting a wine cave, then using your basement would be a popular option.

Also, if you decide you want to use your basement, you may need to seem renovation before you can create your wine cellar. 

The price of renovating your basement for a wine cellar and then adding that wine cellar to it can range anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000.

Location: Under the Stairs Wine Cellar

If you have a stairway and there is an unused area under your stairs, then putting a wine cellar in this area is another common idea for many homeowners.

However, if you do decide to put your wine cellar under your stairs, you’ll need to worry about fluctuating temperatures in that area of the house.

Not only will you need to think about monitoring your temperature, but you’d also need to pay for some customized racks so that they’ll fit into this area. Custom racks underneath your staircase will usually cost anywhere from $500 to $2500 per rack.

TIP: Have you wondered if you can put a wine fridge next to the oven? This article explains all you need to know. Find out what temperature wine freezes at in this article.

Location: Walk-In Closet Wine Cellar

If you own a home that has several large closets, then you might be in luck when it comes to finding a functional space for your wine cellar. You could convert one of your walk-in closets into your wine cellar.

If you do use a walk-in closet, keep in mind that you’ll have a limited area to use. However, one benefit of having this limited area is that your remodeling costs won’t be as substantial.

If you use a closet for your wine cellar or cave, you’ll bring down the value of your remodeling as well because closets don’t have any windows or exposure to sunlight that could affect your wine.

Keep in mind that if you do use a walk-in closet for your wine cellar, you will need to figure out a way to achieve air-tight insulation with that closet. That can be one factor that’s difficult to figure out. However, you’ll need to do it, because if temperatures fluctuate, your wine could be impacted.

Location: Crawl Space Wine Cellar

If you decide to make your wine cellar in your crawl space, then you’ll also need to think about how humidity might affect your wine. The moisture in a crawl space can fluctuate, so you’ll have to install some air-tight insulation as well as something to control the moisture.

Once you have those items in, you can renovate the crawl space into a wine cellar. The total cost to do this will run between $200 and about $1100.

Factor #2: Wine Cellar Design

Depending on the design you want for your wine cellar, the price of your plan can impact your overall cost. Whenever somebody installs a wine cellar, they want something that not only works well but is also an attractive space.

When you are trying to figure out the right design for your wine cellar, keep in mind that you can do anything from installing a small basement shelf to designing a large room that has a wine tasting feature in it.

It doesn’t matter how large or small your wine cellar will be overall; you’ll still want to make sure you wind up with a beautiful area once it is finished.

Design: Spiral Wine Cellar 

One design choice you’ll have is making a spiral wine cellar. As we discussed above, many people like to use this design if they are putting a wine cellar under their floors, or into smaller spaces, like crawl spaces.

With a spiral wine cellar, you’ll wind up with tiny cabinets to pull up, and the price for those can be as low as $1000 if you opt for a smaller version. If you want a bigger version, then you may pay as much as $55,000.

Design: Tasting Room Wine Cellar

Some people want to add a tasting room into their wine cellar areas. If you decide to do that, then know that part of the room won’t need to have extra temperature control features.

However, wherever you store your wine will need to have the right temperature controls to preserve your wine correctly.

Depending on the finish you want and the way your room currently looks, two factors that can contribute to your remodeling price, you’ll be paying about $5000 to $15000 if you want to add a wine-tasting room into your wine cellar.

TIP: Are you interested in buying a wine stopper? We’ve personally tried and recommend buying one of these wine stoppers (Amazon links):

  • The Original Vacu Vin Wine Saver: Our top choice. Very easy-to-use wine stopper/saver. You can enjoy a glass of fresh wine whenever you want without worrying about wasting any.
  • EZBASICS Wine Saver: Great alternative to Original Vacu Vin Saver. This wine stopper keeps the flavor of wine for up to one week.
  • Champagne Stopper by MiTBA: Wine stoppers for sparkling wines are different. This wine stopper seals your bottle and increases the pressure so your beverage’s bubbles won’t go to waste.

Design: Walk-Through Wine Cellar

If you notice you won’t have much space in your basement area for the wine cellar you want, another option to consider is the walk-through option on the main floor of your home.

If you decide to utilize this style, you’ll need to make sure you include doors that are both insulated and air-tight on each side of the hallway you use.

TIP: This article provides 8 steps on long-term wine storage, while this article tells you how to dispose of unwanted wine and bottles.

Design: Customized Wine Cabinet

If you’re working on a small wine collection and you don’t need a large area for storage, then you can opt for a smaller custom cabinet design and place that in any part of your house.

For example, you can put it in your living room, study, or wherever in your home you’d like. That way, you can opt for a wine cabinet in the area of the home you think you’d best like to place it. 

Using a small, customized wine cabinet works best for people that just want simple wine storage and who don’t own many wine bottles to store.

Keep in mind that the number of wine bottles you’ll be placing in the cabinet will make the price of the cabinet vary. If you want something that’s tiny and holds under ten bottles of wine, then you’re looking at something as low as $500.

However, if you want a wine cabinet that’s quite large, say for close to two hundred bottles. If you are looking to store that many wine bottles, then you may be spending as much as $4,000 on your cabinet.

However, remember that if you opt for a wine cabinet, you may have issues controlling temperature if you aren’t keeping bottles in an insulated area. We’ll cover more on how temperature and humidity can affect your wine in a little bit. 

Factor #2: Storage Capacity

When you are trying to figure out the storage capacity of your wine cellar, you’ll need to factor in the number of wine bottles you’ll be keeping. If you own several bottles, then you’ll need a more substantial cellar.

If you only own a few, then you’ll want something smaller. Keep in mind that you usually need to use about half a square foot of space for every ten wine bottles. Below we’ll give you some estimates and prices for storing different numbers of wine bottles.

  • For 100 bottles, if you get a small cabinet, you will probably spend between $500-$4000.
  • For 200 bottles, you need about ten square feet of space. That will cost you between $7,000 to $15,000.
  • If you have 500 bottles, you’ll need at least twenty-five square feet, which will cost anywhere between $15,000 and $22,000.
  • If you have 1,000 bottles, you’ll need at least fifty square feet of space. That will cost between $26,000 to $32,000.
  • If you own 2,000 bottles of wine, you’ll need about one hundred square feet of space. The cost for that is between $35,000 to $45,000.

Also, keep in mind, along with the prices for the different storage capacities we’ve listed, you’ll also have to factor in the cost of refrigeration if you need it. Some types of wine need to be refrigerated, but you don’t have to refrigerate all kinds of wine.

If you bought a lot of white and rose types of wine, then you will need to keep them cool. However, if you are a red wine person, you’ll only need a rack on the wall and no refrigeration.

However, if you plan on adding refrigeration and cooling to your wine cabinet, then that can impact your cost. Also, if you simply want to get a wine rack for your red wine, you’ll be spending a lot less money. We’ll go over these two factors below in a bit more detail.

Storage: The Price of Refrigeration

Depending on the type of wine you like to purchase, the right temperature for your wine can vary. If you are a fan of red wines, then you are in luck. Red wines don’t usually need to be refrigerated.

They do better when stored at a range of 60 to 68 degrees F, which is room temperature in most houses. However, if you prefer white wines or red wines, then you’ll need a cooled storage area that keeps the temperature around 45 to 52 degrees F.

If you think about it, you can simply purchase a small wall cooler for those wines that require refrigeration. That would work out well for you if you don’t have too many roses and white wines to store.

Purchasing something like this is simple, and they are also usually simple to install. However, you’ll only have limited room for your wines.

If you’d prefer to have a more significant walk-in option, then you may need to use cooling with ducts. However, if you want something bigger, then you’ll probably need to hire a professional to install the features. Below we review the typical costs of chilling your wine depending on the type of cooler you purchase:

  • If you want a refrigerator that is installed into your wall, you’ll be spending anywhere between $1,000 and $3500.
  • If you would prefer a split cooling system, then you’ll likely be spending between $5000 to $1500.
  • If you want to install ducted cooling, you will probably pay anywhere between $3000 to $10000.

The below table will give you a rough estimate of what you could expect to pay for refrigerator repairs:

Wine Cooler PartCosts Products on Amazon
Compressor$100 – $600Best Compressors
Thermostat$5 – $30Best Thermostats
Start relay$7 – $16Best Start Relays
Condensor motor$30 – $250Best Condensor Motors
Overload protector$5 – $10Best Overload Protectors
Cooling fan unit$10 – $25Best Cooling Fan Units
Control board$60 – $250Best Control Boards
Temperature switching PCB$30 – $50Best PCBs
Thermal plate$30 – $50Best Thermal Plates
Estimated Costs to Repair Wine Fridge

Storage: Wine Racks

If you are a lover of red wine, then all you’ll need to store your wine is a few wine racks. If you’ve got a tight budget and you are a red wine lover, that means you are in luck.

Often, wine racks are comprised of wood, although sometimes we also see some made out of metal and glass materials. While the material can affect the price of your wine rack, so can the size of your wine rack. 

Keep in mind that some dimensions for wine bottles can be different depending on the wine’s vintage and the winery that made it. The standard wine bottle can be sized between three and slightly over three inches in diameter.

Also, most wine bottles stand at a height of about one foot tall. So a typical wine rack, which can fit sixteen wine bottles, will be about twenty inches wide and tall, with a depth of around eleven inches. 

Also, you’ll have the choice between purchasing a standard wine rack or having a customized wine cabinet built for you. Depending on that choice and the material you want to make your wine rack out of, you will probably pay between $2 to $20 per bottle of wine. 

TIP: Having quality storage racks for your wine is not only practical but can also serve as a nice design accessory for your home. We loved these (Amazon links):

Factor #3: Wine Cellar Temperature and Humidity

Any wine cellar you decide to install into your home will need to have a controlled temperature that falls between 55 and 60 degrees F. You’ll also need to make sure the humidity in the area is controlled and between 60 to 70% wherever you are storing your wine.

You have to make sure you’ve created consistency in your wine cellar design because that is what will keep your wines healthy. If you want to keep your wines in excellent shape, consider the following features:

  • One feature you should find is the use of a humidifier in your wine cellar. That can vary from $1000 to $2000.
  • You’ll also want to consider installing a thermostat in your wine cellar area. The price for that can range from $100 to $250.
  • If you have to remove or cover any windows in that area, the cost for that can vary.
  • If you want to add air-tight insulation to your wine cellar, you’ll pay about $2,000 to $3500 for that feature.

Factor #4: Wine Cellar Door

You’ll also need to factor in the price of your wine cellar door. Since this is an interior door, the range of prices can vary depending on locations, materials, and size. However, for one air-tight door, you will pay between $500 and $3500. 

Factor #5: Floors and Walls in Your Wine Cellar

When it comes to your wine cellar’s floor, you won’t need to worry too much about functionality. So, you’ll be able to pick a design based on preference.

The material you want to use for your floor can affect how much your flooring might be. You will probably pay between $1500 for vinyl and up to $5000 for tile to fill the same space. 

If you also need to renovate your walls, much of that will depend on the space you want. Don’t use concrete unless you coat it because it won’t insulate well. Wood or insulated drywall is usually better. Renovating the walls for your wine cellar will cost between $1,000 and $3,000. 

Factor #5: Lighting

When factoring in lighting, you’ll probably spend between $150 and $750 to light your wine cellar. Much of this depends on the design, but remember never to use UV light or natural light.

Halogen lights can also damage wine. So, make sure you’ve purchased LED or fluorescent lights so that your wine bottles won’t be damaged. 

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the different costs for the various features and styles of wine cellars, you should be able to factor in your budget and create a wine cellar that will be just right for you.

Remember, if you don’t need anything fancy and you are on a budget, there are plenty of ways you can still have a beautiful wine cabinet or storage space for your wine, too.

TIP: Check out this page for a complete list of wine products and accessories I love. You’ll find my recommendations for wine refrigerators, decanters, and aerators and the best place to buy wine online. Click here to see the complete listing.