Incorporating a wine display is a wonderful opportunity to elevate the reputation of any business. A wine feature can be modern, rustic, or traditional to complement the aesthetic of an establishment and has the added benefit of serving several practical purposes. Wine walls and rooms are elegant ways to delineate spaces within a restaurant or hotel lobby. Wine lockers and private cellars are sought-after amenities in luxury residences and enable owners to attract new clientele. Wine displays and closets can also store and age prized vintages in pristine conditions while maintaining others at proper serving temperatures for immediate use. Fortunately, there are a variety of cooling systems that can be customized to fit your unique commercial application. The best way to get the ball rolling is to seek inspiration from businesses that have already taken the plunge.
Here are a handful of commercial wine displays that might spark ideas and motivation to make your own business dream a reality.
1. Reimagined Hotel Wine Cellar
Most people associate wine cellars with dark, dingy basements. However, this stunning cellar is on the top floor of the Radisson Blue Pera Hotel overlooking the Bosphorous River in downtown Istanbul, Turkey. Guests may walk around the outside of the wine cellar, designed with curved edges and horizontal lines reminiscent of modernist buildings of the 1930s. The cellar features glass on the exterior walls, metal racking, and LED lighting to protect the vintages from light and heat. The display even includes a detached cabinet for quick access to popular wines stored at serving temperature.
Cellar conditions are maintained with a Wine Guardian ducted cooling system, which has a discrete grille inside the space connected via insulated flexible ductwork to a self-contained unit outside the cellar.
2. Attract Affluent Residential Clientele
The owner of a residential high rise in downtown Dallas, Texas, had the foresight to incorporate personal wine lockers for its residents and prospective clients. The elegant locker banks comprise solid white oak panels and clear acrylic racking that includes both cork forward and labels forward displays. The locker banks are protected by insulated glass and feature dimmable LED lights. These wine lockers are unique in an adjacent decanting area where residents and their guests can entertain and sample wine. This seating area is surrounded by glass on two sides but is not part of the wine climate control system for optimal human comfort.
This contemporary wine storage display utilizes two Wine Guardian ducted cooling units for optimal temperature and humidity control.
3. Offer a Differentiated In-Store Customer Experience
A wine and cigar shop owner in Cholula, Mexico, installed a climate-controlled wine display in the middle of their store to house and age fine wines. The exhibit holds less than 100 bottles of their higher-end vintages that required precise conditions. The circular wine exhibit was primarily custom-made of glass so that customers could quickly peruse the labels. Conveniently, the base of the display conceals the cooling unit mechanicals.
What is unique to the Chedraui store is that they also sell premium cigars. These high-quality cigars are preserved in a dedicated space that provides humidity control. The wine feature utilizes a Wine Guardian ducted unit, and the humidor room uses a Wine Guardian humidifier.
4. Elegance in an Airport Lounge
The Delta Sky Club® in the Austin Bergstrom International Airport redefines the airport lounge experience. The centerpiece of the restaurant and bar is a wine tower that holds over 200 bottles of wine in two different temperature-controlled spaces: one for storing and aging wine and a colder one for serving. The modern design features custom walnut millwork, backlit panels, and a curved glass door. This application is unique because of how cleverly the cooling unit mechanicals were hidden in ceiling wells above the display. Anything is possible with the right team and a robust, versatile cooling solution.
The climates are controlled with two Wine Guardian ducted cooling units maintained at different temperatures.
Restaurant Applications
5. Create a Focal Point
Located in Hudson Yards, New York City, this wall-to-wall wine display is integral to The Tavern’s architecture. The main wine wall is located on the second floor overlooking the dining area adjacent to the stairs leading up to it. The wine features are comprised primarily of glass to complement the elegant aesthetic of the restaurant with metal accents and wooden components. The extensive collection of wine is stored on custom racking in a label forward configuration. The wine wall is lit to showcase the vintages and add to the dining experience’s ambiance.
The restaurant utilizes several Wine Guardian water-cooled units for different purposes. This allows the wine wall and private club on the third floor to properly age wine and keep bottles at the ideal serving temperature.
6. Delineate Space in a Dining Room
When the clubhouse at Admirals Cove in Jupiter, Florida, was renovated, a wine wall was incorporated into the design. The design team went with a sleek black and glass wine feature that elevated the look-and-feel of the restaurant and was a perfect addition to the exclusive private golf club. The floor-to-ceiling wine wall separates the dining area from the bar and holds several hundred vintages which can be accessed via a discrete glass door.
Since the wine wall is located in the middle of the restaurant with no space to install a self-contained cooling unit, the team selected a Wine Guardian ducted split system.
7. Create a Perimeter
Renowned chef Gordon Ramsey was ready to expand his Bread Street Kitchen restaurant in Asia. He selected the modern Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore and incorporated wine displays into the design. One of the two wine features was placed on the border of the establishment and housed whites and champagnes at serving temperature. Shoppers walking by would see the wine wall from outside the restaurant while diners enjoyed the elegant view from inside. The wine enclosure is glass surrounded by dark wood and metal racking and gives off a masculine, modern vibe. The other wine feature is in the middle of the restaurant and stores and ages a collection of red wine.
Given the hot and humid climate in Singapore, a robust cooling solution was imperative. The wine display was built on the restaurant’s perimeter and utilized two Wine Guardian through-the-wall (TTW) systems. The inside space dedicated to aging and storing wine was equipped with a self-contained ducted unit.
Commercial spaces have unique requirements that are less prevalent in residential applications. For instance, heavy foot traffic in busy restaurants holds the potential to damage wine. A team of experienced designers, architects, and contractors will know their way around the technical considerations of building a wine cellar so you can focus on creating a welcoming, classy wine feature.
