When the yen for a French Bordeaux, an Italian Sangiovese or a California Cabernet hits, some Atlanta homeowners have to go no farther than their own wine cellars to find the perfect bottle. The steadily growing numbers of wine lovers also have developed a desire to have their own private stash of select vintages to enjoy.

But for many wine lovers, the wine experience isn't complete without friends and family to share it with. That desire frequently translates into a separate space in the house dedicated to the storing and enjoyment of wine.

Sara Hopkins / AJC Special (ENLARGE)

A wrought iron door leads to the cellar in the home of Jim and Susan Anderson. Surrounding them is an old world ambiance of low lighting and stone walls.

Brant Sanderlin / bsanderlin@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Photographer Denis Reggie bought a home that could accommodate a wine cellar large enough for a tasting room and 1,800 bottles.

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"Wine cellars are very popular right now, but they've caught on much more in the last five years," said Mark Fosner, a founding partner of Moon Bros. Inc., a design and building firm not far from Little Five Points. "Previously, wine cellars were thought of as just a place to store wine, period. Now, they're much more of a showplace and many are associated with a tasting room."

When it comes to creating your own wine cellar, its ultimate purpose is the first point to consider, said Fosner.

"Is it just to store wine or to take friends there, select a wine and have a place to taste it? That decision is often the main part of the job. Making it a showplace requires more space and a different layout than just having a temperature-controlled room to store wine."

Making a wine cellar a destination also may mean creating an ambience around the room itself. "If it's just the homeowner going past the furnace on his way to get a bottle, OK," said Fosner. "But if you want to impress friends, then maybe you're going down a staircase lined with art and into a nice tasting area. And that's where a lot of the money is spent — on the show."

From storage to showplace

Jim Anderson had a small wine storage area in the unfinished basement of the Brookhaven house he and his wife, Susan, built in 1990.

"I started collecting wine in the late 1980s and had an informal, cool area that grew into a single room with about 1,500 bottles," said Anderson. "I then added a second cellar, and as my tastes changed from California to Europe, I had one cellar of each."

But Anderson admits that his consumption does not keep up with his acquisition. Two years ago, the couple embarked on a new cellar that would hold all the wine and be a place where friends and family could gather.

"I wanted a sense that when you left the upstairs, you were moving toward a cave-like area, back in time," said Anderson.

It took workers seven months to install the hand-worked stone and tile, the old Parisian elevator doors into the room and the space for 6,500 bottles. The project also included hanging three large paintings by a local artist who reflected the couple's love of Italy and wine, as well as finding an array of sculptures, antique furniture and accents to give guests the idea of being in another era.

The couple also insisted that the generators and condensers be installed outside the cellar to keep noise levels down. "It's now a cozy and elegant space," said Anderson.

Time warp in Buckhead

Celebrity photographer Denis Reggie also wanted his wine cellar to be a trip back in time. With a vision of creating his own personal time tunnel, Reggie shopped specifically for a house that could accommodate it.

"I walked through 20 houses looking for the one space that could be a wine cellar," he said. His four-year-old Buckhead home had the ideal spot, under the front porch. The 10-by-20 foot space was big enough to hold a tasting room and 1,800 bottles.

"You go from this traditional house through old iron gates and it's like you're taking a trip to Europe a century ago," said Reggie. "There's a barrel ceiling with old-time stucco that gives it a cave-like quality. Then you turn the corner into this area with reclaimed terra cotta from France that, after it was treated, looked like it did 100 years ago. The timbers are from an old Georgia barn. I used as many things that were genuinely old as I could."

The space also is decorated with an array of French, English and Italian antiques, including an antique tasting table and a 15th-century Italian panel that forms the visual focal point of the cellar.

"I love it," said Reggie. "It's a blend of a new house with something that appears much older."

Making a home for wine

Wine expert Michael Venezia, the education director for Atlanta-based United Distributors, offers the following tips for wine collectors who want to establish a cellar.

• Start with a budget. "You need a budget not only to build the cellar, but to stock it," he said. "Most people have fixed and limited budgets, and you'd be surprised how fast the money can go before you can stock the cellar with great vintages."

• Control the temperature. "Make sure the space has the correct humidity and temperature controls, both easily accomplished by installing humidity regulators and refrigerators," said Venezia. "Ideally, the temperature should be between 56 and 60 degrees, with humidity at about 70 percent."

• Consider the cellar's function. "Are you buying wine for your own consumption or are you starting a legacy cellar — investing in wine for your children? If you're investing, you want to design a storage area that has cubes where you can store the wooden boxes."

The bottom line

Fosner of Moon Bros. said not all wine cellars have to be huge spaces carved out of an underground room. "You can actually get a lot in a little area — like 1,000 bottles into a compact space that could be a closet in a hallway or a space off a kitchen," he said.

Bigger spaces will incur costs for cooling, insulation, framing and construction.

"There isn't a good way to estimate a square-foot price because so much depends on where and what it is," said Fosner. "A tiny closet off a kitchen could probably be done for about $10,000 without terribly fancy racks.

"Once you start making a real display, you can spend a lot of money for stone and stucco walls, French tiled floors and high-end racks."

Fosner suggests that homeowners go online and compare prices on racks and equipment to get some idea of what they'll spend to get started.