Signature · Wine Cellars
A room for the bottles you’ve been waiting for.
Climate-controlled cellars cut into the foundation, glassed off the dining room, or carved into a forgotten basement corner. Designed for the collection, not for the photograph.
A serious wine cellar is mechanical, structural, and architectural at once. The room has to hold 55°F at 60% humidity, year-round, with the dining room three feet away holding 70°F at 30%. The walls need a vapour barrier the way a refrigerator does. The lighting can't cook the labels. The racking has to flex to a collection that grows in the directions a collector grows. We design and build cellars from 200-bottle wall units up to 4,000-bottle dedicated rooms with tasting tables and reach-in lockers.
What we handle
Climate & vapour systems
Through-wall and split cooling units sized to the actual room volume and insulation R-value. Vapour barriers detailed against Toronto's humidity swings.
Racking & storage
Wood (mahogany, sapele, oak), metal, acrylic, or custom — racked for the collection’s actual makeup: Bordeaux singles, Burgundy magnums, Champagne lay-down, half-bottles.
Walls, floors, ceilings
Polished concrete, reclaimed brick, French limestone, stained oak, lime-washed plaster — chosen for both look and humidity behaviour.
Lighting
Low-heat LED, dimmable, on cellar-safe drivers. Curated to read labels without UV exposure.
Glass & viewing
Frameless glass walls, climate-rated doors, museum-style display niches with concealed integration into the dining room or library.
Notes from the GTA
- Basement foundation walls in older Toronto homes need careful vapour-barrier detailing to prevent efflorescence or mould — we spec to match the wall, not to a generic detail.
- Through-wall cooling units (Wine-Mate, WhisperKool) are the most common and cost-effective; split systems (Mitsubishi, CellarCool) are quieter and necessary for cellars off living spaces.
- Plan for collection growth — most owners under-rack on the first cellar and need to rebuild within a decade.
A wine cellar is the rare room a homeowner builds once. We build it to outlast the collection.