How to Create Your Luxury Home Bar

Having an in-home luxury bar can enhance your life and enjoyment of wine  as much as it enhances your property value. These days, everyone is wanting a chill way to get together away from the maddening crowds and noise of public places that, let's face it, do not offer the quality and selection of wine you've become accustomed to.

Having spent years, time, and a considerable amount of money collecting wine from all over the world, or even just down the road, makes staying in with friends and hosting wine night all that much more attractive. Here are some top level ideas to help you start your own luxury wine bar at home:

1. Pick a Room  Decide where in your home you want to set up your wine digs. Basement bars are popular and have the added attraction of setting up a game room, pool table, ping pong table or other games to get conversations flowing. If you don't have a basement, a room off the hall or distance away from the rest of the house or a sperate space in your back yard offer fun variety and a feel of special, cozy place. A luxury home bar is different from a rumpus room where kids play and laundry gets folded. This is for adult entertainment only.
2. Hire a contractor or DIY setup:  A stand behind bar is attractive and fun and can either be built-in to the wall or purchased as a stand alone piece. Custom design bars can add a real sense of luxury,
   
3.  Consider Lighting:  Low light spaces add to the ambience so make sure there are no bright, overlit lights above. Keep the space dark and clean, and add color lighting into the ceiling or added into the room with dimmer lights and lamps. Colored lighting, candles or electric candles add a special touch. Play with it and have fun but remember, lighting is the most important element for adding ambience and sets the tone for your entire space.
4. Wall Color: Probably the second most important element is the color of your walls, ceiling, and the feel you want. If the room is a basement or other dark space, you will have options to go dark and rich. If you are opting for a room connecting to an outdoor space such as a backyard or swimming area, a more breezy, resort-style color scheme can make you feel like you are on vacation but with a better wine selection. 
5.  Add in the Wine!   Stock Your Cellar with offers and clubs from one of our Preferred Wine Partner  We don't mean to save the obvious for last, but choose if you want your collection on display such as in a dedicated wine cellar, or a select number of bottles to be available in one of our wine coolers. There are any number of choices depending on how many bottles you want to display or have on hand.  We love having 2 individual large size wine fridges, one for whites and bubbles and the other for reds. We've mentioned before that we love our Pinots slightly chilled, so we keep those in their own unit but if you have  a dedicated wine cellar or room, those can be kept at their optimal 58 degrees until ready to drink. (We're always ready)
6.  Wet Bar Area: A small area with a sink and an ice maker are ideal. Check out our Ice Makers and Vodka Chillers to display in this area. Use this area to create cheese boards or antipasti for your guests.
7. Cigar Lounge:  Consider an area for a cigar lounge or set one up outdoors in your backyard. Late night cigars and red wine are a ritual and deserve their own special place away from the non-smokers. Start by visiting our collection of Cigar Humidors and feel great passing out your favorite cigars at the end of the evening. 

Your friends and family will love coming over and staying in is often more fun than going out. If you need help stocking your cellar, be sure to check out our Preferred Vintners page as we add to it for more options on how to Stock Your Cellar.