Just found this thread (you never know what you'll find as you dig around).
I love wine, particular the big bold reds like cabernet sauvignon, syrah, malbec, carmenere, zinfandel and others. However, I'm developing a taste for some of the whites: semillon, viognier, pinot gris, and others, as long as they are complex like a red, or citrus and fresh for sipping on the back deck on a hot day. About the only wine I do not particularly care for is chardonay. The south American reds are surprisingly good, especially the ones from Chile and Argentina, but my current favorites are the Washington wines.
While I typically love a Black Butte Porter (or just about any other nearly black beer) for "Q", I also like to have bold reds with the succulent "Q" meats.
We needed a wine cellar to store our treats, so we converted a sewing room into a "wine cellar"
Done on the cheap, it has been in place since 2000, and has been perfect to store our wines.
We were at L'ecole in Walla Walla a few years ago, and struck up a conversation with the winemaker. I was interested in a barrel, and he sold me the one in this image for $10 - I plan to have a circular glass top made so I can convert the barrel into a wine tasting table. I also plan to cut a door into the side of the barrel and store glasses within. This "cellar" is actually adjacent to the living room, which you can see through the circular window.
Starting to deplete my house wines a bit. Need to make a trip to Washington
As to cooling, the "experts" want us to purchase a $3000 wine cellar "environmental control unit", however I opted for a $200 removable chassis room air conditioner from Walmart - has not done me wrong for the last 14 years. You can see it in the far wall in this image.
