In conversation with Michael Adamson, owner of the ‘Minto’ stainless steel wine fridge –featured in Wine Spectator magazine’s October 2013′s issue: As a self-named foodie, Michael Adamson’s interest in wine originated from his love of cooking and eating. Following in the footsteps of his family, who were major foodies and wine-lovers alike, he began collecting wine 30 years ago. In the early days, when he consumed more than he collected, his collection was housed in a rudimentary cellar lacking any cooling mechanism. As time passed, his favorites grew to include cabs and blends from California – Dunn, Pahlmeyer, Schrader, and wines from Tuscany, in particular the Bolgheri region –Ornellaia and Masseto.
When Adamson originally built the house, a large custom wine cellar for storage was not a part of the design. With a growing collection overflowing into other areas of his home, he quickly concluded that a more formal storage space was necessary for his sanity.
Calling on the expertise that Vin de Garde offered in custom wine cellar design, he contracted them to retrofit a former storage closet into a showplace for his collection. With the dual goals of storing bottles in a controlled environment and displaying his passion, he opted for a fridge-style cabinet rather than a walk-in cellar.
With the expertise of Vin de Garde, Adamson’s wine storage of choice evolved to include a 3 meter by 3.5 meter brushed stainless steel, temperature-controlled custom wine fridge, with the capacity to store up to 388 bottles. The interior layout is completed by a combination of our wine pegs for storing individual bottles, case storage, and slide-out shelving. The addition of LED lighting with dimmer shows the wine dramatically. The temperature control is achieved using a water-cooled wine cellar cooling system and ducted cold air in two locations from the ceiling. All the wine is stored at the same constant temperature. Magnetic locks with handheld FOB controls and a high temperature alarm alert the owner if the cooling system were ever to fail.
