When you have more wine than will fit in the space you have for them now. A wine cooler is for short term storage really a wine cellar is temp and humidity controlled and for long term storage and needs to be properly built if collecting wine is what you want to do.

Full bottles of wine don't need to be stored in my home - I drink them lol

What Patricia said. Wine coolers are geared much more for short term storage - think bottles you're looking to serve in a few months time. On the flip side, a wine cellar is geared more for aging.

A wine cellar is better if you're looking for long term storage of numerous bottles. There's lots of ways to get a wine cellar without breaking the bank. For example, functional storage without anything fancy like an arch and a more inexpensive wood like pine.

We offer free custom design and wine consultations for wine cellar so feel free to drop us a line. We also have a cellar questionnaire. We're happy to help with your individual space

I think it's a fair question. At the risk of taking some arrows, I'll venture to say that a walk-in wine cellar will start - after accounting for the racking, refrigeration and assembly - at around $10K. This doesn't include the cost to insulate and add a vapor barrier to walls, or flooring, or lighting - and you might be able to shave $1-2K, but it's a pretty good ballpark.

For wine COOLERS, you can get 166 bottle storage for around $1800 - these refrigerators can be affordable, great looking and maintain ideal serving temperatures, but generally they are not able to maintain ideal storage conditions.

If you want to maintain ideal storage conditions, you'll need a wine CABINET - these start around $2500 for 172 bottles, and come in various styles, colors and finishes, including metal and wood.

The advantage of coolers and cabinets - in addition to their price - is that they're moveable. But it's hard to beat the drama of a walk-in wine cellar!

We offer products and resources for everything described above on our site, along with lots of comparisons and buying guides - and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out, we'll be glad to help!

Whereever you end up, keep in mind the following advice:

1. make sure you plan for growth - if you're passionate about wine, your wine collection will grow more than you anticipate, and

2. make sure your solution can handle large-format bottles, because not everything is skinny and shaped like a Bordeaux bottle.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@iwawine.com, we're here to help!