Wine cave

Wine caves are subterranean structures for the storage and aging of wine. They are an integral component of the wine industry worldwide. The design and construction of wine caves represents a unique application of underground construction techniques.

The storage of wine underground offers the benefits of energy efficiency and optimum use of limited land area. Wine caves naturally provide both high humidity and cool temperatures, which are key to the storage and aging of wine.

The history of wine cave construction in the United States dates back to the 1860s in Sonoma, and the 1870s in the Napa Valley region. In 1857, Agoston Harazsthy founded Buena Vista Winery and in 1862, Buena Vista Winery's Press House was completed, and in 1864, a second building now called the Champagne Cellars was completed. In total, Buena Vista Winery had five caves among the two buildings in operation in 1864. Jacob Schram, a German immigrant and barber, founded Schramsberg Vineyards near Calistoga, California in 1862. Eight years later, Schram found new employment for the Chinese laborers who had recently finished constructing tunnels and grades over the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad. He hired them to dig a network of caves through the soft Sonoma Volcanics Formation rock underlying his vineyard.

Another Chinese workforce took time away from their regular vineyard work to excavate a labyrinth of wine-aging caves beneath the Beringer Vineyards near St. Helena, California. These caves exceeded 1,200 ft (365 m) long, 17 ft (5 m) wide and 7 ft (2 m) high. The workers used pick-axes and shovels – and on occasion, chisel steel, double jacks and black powder – to break the soft rock. They worked by candlelight, and removed the excavated material in wicker baskets. At least 12 wine storage caves were constructed by these methods.

From the late 19th century to the early 1970s, the development of wine caves went through a long period of “dark ages.” No new caves were built, and many existing caves were abandoned or fell into disrepair. A “renaissance” of cave building began in 1972 when Alf Burtleson Construction started the rehabilitation of the old Beringer wine caves, and was followed by the design and construction of new caves.

In 1982, the Far Niente Winery completed the first of these “new age” wine caves in the Napa Valley AVA. The cave was only 60 ft (18 m) long and was used exclusively to age the wine and to store empty barrels. In 1991, 1995, and 2001, the caves were expanded. New rooms and storage areas were added, featuring different crown heights and intriguing shapes. An octagonal room was constructed for a wine library and a round domed room was added in the complex’s center. Far Niente Winery caves now encompass about 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m²).

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