Living with Wine by The Recipe Club

living with

wine pa s s i o n at e c o l l e c to r s , s o p h i s t i c at e d c e l l a r s , a n d ot h e r r o o m s f o r e n t e r ta i n i n g , e n j oy i n g , and imbibing

s a m a nth a ne s to r with a li c e f ei r ing

p h oto g r a p h s b y a n d r ew f r en c h

c l a r k s o n p otte r / p u b li s he r s new yo r k

2 LIVING WITH WINE

int r o d u c ti o n 3

ContentS

I n t ro d u c t i o n 9

Part I:

T h e E n t e rta i n i n g pa i r ' s L a i r

The First Flush

Asian Flair

Part V:

R e s o u r c e s 241

The Gentleman’s

The Sybarite’s

The Modernist

U r b a n R e t r e at s a n d

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s 252

H av e n

S a n c t u a ry

Refuge

I n s p i r i n g S pa c e s

I n d e x 254

The Natural

Ode to Sake

Going Green

A Sophisticated Passion 51

Designed for Living

Renaissance Man

125

117

109

The Luxe Life

169

The Island Cellar

145

161

166

Divine Art Deco

139

The Cathedral of Wine

101

The Days of Wine and Baseball

128

131

The Man Cave

Wooden Wonderland

Narragansett Style

Part IV:

Wine in His Blood

View to a Vineyard

A Map of Italy

Part III:

The Royal Treatment

Moroccan Moods

Part II:

153

177

Chelsea Girl

207

The Bachelor Enthusiast

The Club Room

185

Zen Closet

Age of Antiquity

191

Club Paradise

Vegas Delight

199

204

217 225

Wrapped in Wine

229

The Heights of Wine

235

211

i n t ro d u c t i o n It has been said “Where there is no wine there is no love.”* Today, America’s love of wine has spurred a collecting and entertaining phenomenon. As more people join the wine-collecting family, their desire to make wine part of their lives has facilitated the creation of magnificent spaces. No longer are wine cellars the little dungeons that a staff member visited to select a bottle to bring to the guests upstairs. Now the wine cellar is part of an entertaining matrix that marries luxurious design aesthetics and ingenious storage solutions. The results are so inviting that they encourage their owners (and guests) to spend meaningful time there. This new addition to the cultured home has become the place to entertain and imbibe, and it often commands surprisingly large amounts of real estate. When I first started developing Living with Wine, I found collectors most intriguing because the majority of the objects they amass will (eventually) be consumed. I learned that these passionate individuals loved to share the story of how they discovered “the” bottle. Or perhaps they would choose to chat about a journey they had taken to acquire a certain wine before they uncorked it so we could enjoy it together. And then they would tell me about the cellars. Thus began an ebb and flow, a coming and going of bottles; the stories of sharing, of entertaining, and of building the space that housed prized possessions. Cellars were once little more than passive “caves” or holes in the ground and now, thanks to creative interior designers, architects, and builders, the cellar has become a new area for opulence and revelry. Of course, cellars must function with proper temperature and humidity control, but now the spaces are lovely to look at and reveal their owners’ personalities and their designers’ ingenuity.

*euripides, circa

b.c.

480 – 406.

address the desire of owners such as television and radio personality Ryan Seacrest, who said, “I wanted the wine-cellar design to be on par with the rest of my home. I wanted it functional, to the point, yet personal and meaningful.” Some of the cellars included contain green solutions, and one opitimizes a commitment to green design. Even though I currently reside in Connecticut, my fifteen years as a New Yorker make me think like an urban dweller. Some of the most passionate collectors I know are New Yorkers, and wine storage is as important to them as it is to those on Napa estates. So I set out to find some smart designs for petite spaces. The result is savvy solutions that are also ideal for Americans love their wine. According to the Wine Insti-

solutions for generous and limited square footage. It includes

tute, over the past ten years, wine consumption in the United

cellars from large estates to urban apartments, from the small

States has gone from 510 million gallons in 1997 to 745

state of Rhode Island to the great wine-producing state of

million gallons in 2007. That’s a lot of juice! Wine collecting

California. The book is divided into five parts: the Entertain-

isn’t merely relegated to a boys’ club of businessmen or

ing Pair’s Lair, the Gentleman’s Haven, the Sybarite’s

wealthy heirs. The group featured within this book is

Sanctuary, the Modernist Refuge, and Urban Retreats and

diverse: It includes women and men, people with back-

Inspiring Spaces, which displays three fine commercial

grounds in environmental activism, fashion, finance,

spaces that have influenced residential cellar design. Some

restaurant development, law, film production, and television.

individuals profiled here are just beginning their wine journey,

What all of these individuals have in common is that they

that enviable first blush of wine collecting; others have been

have turned their collecting passion into a haven in their

amassing their cellars for decades.

homes. The wine cellar is a place where they escape and entertain, tell stories, and share their wine. Living with Wine showcases thirty extraordinary wine cellars

Cellars are indeed emerging from the basement and being designed strategically into or around the central entertaining spaces of the home. Many of these cellars were created to

and collections and shows all facets of the wine cellar, the

blend seamlessly with the rest of the home. The owners and

tasting room, and the storage areas, including different

designers collaborated closely to ensure the cellars would

10 LIVING WITH WINE

starter collections where the goal is to make the most of the space available in order to artfully display and organize a budding collection. Clever design solutions are not limited to residential projects. Also included are award-winning commercial wine cellars that offer the homeowner a different form of inspiration from restaurants, hotels, and private clubs. Living with Wine allows readers to join the winecollecting family and reflects America’s passion for wine. I invite you to join me and wine writer Alice Feiring as we traverse the country exploring thirty jaw-dropping wine cellars. Come with us as we visit these wonderful spaces, view enticing collections, and meet inspiring oenophiles. Whether you are building a cellar or just want to imagine one, sit down with Living with Wine, uncork a favorite bottle, relax, and enjoy the stories. Living with Wine is about loving life.

i nt r o d u c t i o n 1 1

{ PA RT I }

THE

e n te r t a i n i n g

pa i r ’ s l a i r

The owners of these cellars could never be satisfied with musty rooms tucked away or inaccessible subterranean dens. Their wine-storage solutions are strategically knit into or spun around the central

{ PA RT I }

entertaining spaces of the home. And in some cases, they are the stand-alone, primary entertaining space. Similar to the kitchen, a room once shuttered behind swinging doors, the wine cellar is taking a place of prominence. These “cellars” are functional, accessible, and social, broadening the wine experience into a welcoming one for guests as well as the owner. Practically speaking, these collectors—for whom drinking wine is an everyday affair and a way of life—see their “cellars” as their favorite spot to decompress. Such spaces are ideal for families and singles alike. Some cellars have reinterpreted the living room, others have become part of a groovy entertainment complex or a sophisticated tasting library. What used to be standardized is now marvelously varied, from racking styles to interior design and the accessories within. The owners of these wonderful retreats are bound together by their desire to share their passion.

Objects of Desire:

A rt wo r k a n d Co l l e c t i b l e s in the Wine Cellar The wine-mad tend to want to decorate their space not only with bottles but also with other wine accoutrements. From labels with infinitely varied illustrations to funnels, bottle stoppers, and other functional objects that become design objects of desire, the trappings often show up in wine cellars as another kind of collection. Many collectors save used corks for their sentimental value. The catalyst could be the desire to preserve something from a memorable event or important date or the desire to create a sort of three-dimensional catalog of favorite wines. Whether given pride of place in a magnificent wine cellar or perched in a glass bowl on a nightstand, corks are small and easy to save. For those who are lucky enough to have cellars, a cork collection can be turned into a work of art, as in the Weston, Connecticut, cellar designed by Celerie Kemble, where a large glass amphora holds the past year’s indulgences. In Susie Turner’s Narragansett beauty, the entire cellar’s focal point is a table with cork details showcased beneath glass. Wine bottles may be an obvious way to decorate a cellar, but wine sophisticates have also found interesting ways to draw attention to them. Ken Ziffren’s living-room wine cellar uses empty bottles of sentimental value to dot the windowsills as decoration. For his entry, Peter Kend commissioned artist Jean Shin to build a wine wall out of recycled wine bottles. The effect is dazzling, and the refracted light guides the visitor to the wine cellar. One oenophile took bottle display to a new level—having the company Studium create a monumental bottle mosaic of assorted marble, limestone, and onyx at the entrance to the cellar. Says Studium’s president, David Meitus, “We developed the design based on the bottle itself, taking great care to capture every detail of the label, the bottle contour even as we adjusted the scale. The original mosaic is created entirely by hand.” Most wine cellars don’t have windows because of possible damage to the wine. Many owners get creative trying to find substitutes for the light, color, and visual variety that views provide. Peter Kend purchased vineyard photographs by Sarah Matthews, blew them up life-size, and hung them to surround the tasting/dining area adjacent to the storage space. The effect is like being swept away to Napa. The chosen artwork can also be more sentimental than decorative, as in Lou Kapcsándy’s cellar, which is punctuated by his sister’s decorative paintings of the family coat of arms, arbors, and grapevines. Rick Ryan purchased art from local talents and festivals for his Weston, Massachusetts, cellar. Not to be limited to the physical bottle, some collectors also hoard and display the ritualistic tools of wine tasting and drinking. For example, Tom Strauss has adorned his tasting room with a variety of wine paraphernalia. His sideboards are filled with antique decanters, elegant English funnels, corkscrews, and one-of-akind teardrop stemware. The finishing touch is a thousand-liter barrel from France, its head embedded in the stone wall. The options for art in a wine cellar are as diverse as the group of oenophiles themselves.

2 3

T h e C at h e d r a l o f Wi n e sonoma, california

“John and I call it the cathedral of

few years earlier during a wine-cellar disaster. Their

wine,” says Nancy Lasseter with a smile,

HVAC system crashed and about a thousand bottles

referring to her cellar and her husband, the creator of

fried in the heat. The Lasseters vowed that their next

the wildly inventive, joy-giving Pixar animations.

wine cellar would have a backup for such a worst-case

Because of the fanciful aspect to John’s design work,

scenario. So in addition to a geothermal heat-exchange

one would expect this particular couple to have wine

system, a green solution that uses underground natural

storage laced with plenty of clever touches, and it does not

sources independent of electricity for keeping the room

disappoint. The whole house, designed by Backen Gillam

cool, they installed a conventional cooling system for

Architects, is a showpiece. From the water park outside,

those worst-case scenarios. According to Josh Rowland,

which delights their five boys, to the wine cellar that

the designer on the project, Lasseter came equipped

charms the couple themselves, the wow factor is huge.

with plenty of other thoughts on what she wanted for the

“When we moved to Sonoma in 1991, we had an

cellar. “She was an extremely hands-on client with

interest in wine but not in the wine business,” Lasseter

distinct ideas, from the use of ironwork to the way bottles

says. Some years later, her housekeeper came in one day

should be racked, as well as ideas about the lighting.”

with purple-stained hands. She had been picking

As Nancy pulls open the heavily beveled glass-and-

grapes. “I thought that sounded like a lot of fun and

iron door, she explains that her inspiration for it came

went along the next time. I came home covered in

from her love of the ironwork found in the New Orleans

Zinfandel juice and was hooked.” In 2005 they acquired

Garden District. “See how the beveled glass shines? It’s

a winery in Glen Ellen, not far from this home, and

as if it was made up of jewels.” The UV-treated glass

renamed it the Lasseter Family Vineyards.

shimmers like square-cut diamonds from the natural

By the time the Lasseters started work on their new

light that pours into the wine cellar. Beyond the jewel-

home, they already had plenty of beloved wines that

like door, the wine cellar extends over a long sweep.

needed safekeeping. They had learned the hard way a

Ceilings are twelve feet high. Plaster arches; saturated,

Designer Rowland decided to use plaster for the arches instead of brick because it â&#x20AC;&#x153;looked so beautiful, so clean, so perfect.â&#x20AC;?

The space is warmed by the bricklike, tumbled limestone on the floor, the canary and koa wood lining the shelving units, and the Marmarino plaster in a Mediterranean sunny yellow.

buttery walls; and bays off the aisle suggest a glistening Spanish monastery, along with those doors and some spectacular lighting. The room is shaped like a bolt. Three bays on either side of the stem hold wines that are grouped by varietal, held presentationally in steel racks fastened into exotic wood. At the head of the bolt hangs a planetary p a ge 1 5 2 : Tobias Wong created the dramatic

chandelier with Swarovski crystal and a huge black

object that demands attention: a stunning crystal chandelier. “John and I

lampshade. Owner Nancy Lasseter commissioned this

saw a similar one at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City. We just

piece after seeing Wong’s work at the Cooper-Hewitt

had to commission one like it,” Nancy says. Unquestionably dramatic, a

National Design Museum. O PP O site , cloc k wise f rom to p le f t :

The Lasseters’ display includes many special and signed bottles—especially whimsical selections with graphics from Pixar films. • The 12-foot-high ceilings, plaster arches, saturated buttery-colored walls, and bays off the aisle evoke a Spanish monastery. • The heavily beveled glass-and-iron door was inspired by

tangle of Swarovski crystal peeks out of a huge black lampshade like a white frill under a black petticoat. Created by Tobias Wong as a riff on the Louisiana theme, the glittering piece is aptly called “New Orleans.” While Nancy’s vision for the iron and the crystal were unwavering, any large project is likely to go through many permutations. This one was no different. For example, architect Chuck Covell recalls that the initial

Lasseter’s love of ironwork in the garden district of

concept was to install brick arches. “We had some challenges finding the

New Orleans.

brick. Then we went with brick tile. Then we had some plaster. We did a test and decided the plaster looked so beautiful, so clean, so perfect, that we went with that for the arches. The floor tile was supposed to be something else as well. Initially we were using some tile from Belgium. But when we started to lay it down there was an awful smell we couldn’t identify and we were really puzzled. One day it was stacked out on the site, in the heat. That’s when we saw that the tiles were actually oozing. We found out they had been stored inside of a factory, soaking up oil, for years and years. There went that idea. But as a result we decided on something even better, especially since we were going with the clean plaster: limestone that has been tumbled to give it an antique finish.” The limestone floors were designed to create a different pattern in the aisles than in the sanctuary. Air-cooling ventilation in this high-concept, elegant room is anything but pedestrian. To disguise the HVAC details, there are ten pieces of ironwork—laser-cut grates with patterns that include swirls and medallions, vaguely recalling the master Edgar Brandt’s Deco ironwork pieces. Form plays well off function. In other areas, the aesthetic choice has triumphed over efficiency, such as in the Lasseters’ decision to display

1 5 6 L I V I N G W I T H W I N E

lining the shelving units, and the Marmarino plaster in a Mediterranean sunny yellow make the room look like an inviting still life. Reflecting on the project, Josh Rowland says that as they got deeper into the process, a design concept revealed itself. “The room also became about secret places. So much is hidden. The Geo Therm, the venting behind the grates, the chandelier hidden under its shade, and even some of the wines are almost hidden from sight, nestled in their bays.” But for a visitor, the most interesting design element is the cellar’s biggest secret. To the right of the chandelier stands a wall of wines. Nancy walks over to it and stares at the stacked bottles, trying to remember. “Oh, it’s this one,” she says, turning a bottle as if were a doorknob. The wall moves, and in a few seconds she and her visitor are standing on the other side of it, no longer in the wine cellar but in her project room, bottles horizontally to show their labels clearly. The family has many special and signed bottles, and along with the

where she also does the boxing and shipping for the

AB O V E , L E F T T O R I G H T : Laser-cut grates with swirls and

medallions disguise the HVAC details. The patterns are inspired by

family’s own label. From the other side, inside the

master Edgar Brandt’s Deco ironwork pieces. • To the right of the

regular Lasseter Family label, they also design labels with

house, the wall looks like a normal bookcase. On that

chandelier stands a wall of wines that is a secret passage to Lasseter’s

colorful Pixar graphics—which add a lot of fun to an other-

project room, where she does the boxing and shipping for their own

bookcase is a ledge, and on that ledge is a book, and in

wise formal and spare room. Even with their choice of display, there is still room for six thousand bottles and two hundred magnums. “We didn’t count bottles when we started. That was a mistake,” Nancy says. “We underesti-

that book is the fingerprint control used to gain access

label of wines. • Lasseter Family Vineyards was founded in 2005.

to the wine cellar. “We had to find Creative Home

O PP O S I T E : Access to the cellar from the inside of the house

is reached via a wall that looks like a normal bookcase. On that

Engineering, an Arizona company specializing in

bookcase is a ledge. And on that ledge is a book. And in that book is

secret doors. Isn’t it amazing?”

the fingerprint control to enter.

Her visitor responds in the affirmative.

mated how many large-format bottles we actually had. When

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m rambling on like a

the racking was used up, we had to dismantle several of the

proud parent. But isn’t it just the best space?”

bottom rungs to make room. Obviously we felt a little silly.” Fortunately it was all fixable, and the room does not suffer

C ell a r S n a p shot

from the adjustment. With steel, iron, and crystal as the

Capacit y: 6,000 bot tles and 200 magnums

backbone of the room, the Lasseters and Rowland were careful

1994 Gr ace Family Cabernet Sauvignon

to incorporate warmer elements for balance. The brick-like, tumbled limestone on the floor, the canary and koa wood

1 5 8 L I V I N G W I T H W I N E

the s y b a rite ’ s s a nct u a r y 1 5 9

$75.00 (Canada: $92.00)

pa s s i o n at e c o l l e c to r s , s o p h i s t i c at e d c e l l a r s , a n d ot h e r

M Y

r o o m s f o r e n t e r ta i n i n g , e n j oy i n g , a n d i m b i b i n g

SA MA NTH A NE STO R is the

samantha

n e s to r

special projects editor at Metropolitan

to POINTCLICKHOME.com. She regularly lectures on a variety of topics relating to interior design and architecture, and has appeared on television and radio and in publications, including the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, Architectural Record, and Gotham. The author of The Luxury Bathroom and a graduate of Cornell University, Nestor lives in Weston, Connecticut, with her husband and son.

A L ICE F EIRING is a James Beard Award–winning wine

the wine blog Veritas in Vino. She is the wine editor for the

S uddenly, the counter is full. T he pas-

Los Angeles Times, and writes frequently for the Wall Street

sion has taken hol d an d the d esire for a

Journal, Saveur, the New York Times, and other publications.

d evote d space to preserve pri zed bottles

C larkson P otter / P ublishers N e w Yo r k

•

10/09

www. crownpublishing . com www. clarksonpotter . com P rinte d in C hina

invented the wine cellar as an inviting and beautiful part of the home. True collectors love to share their passion, and this book offers a tour of their distinctive cellars. Created with the help of some of the best designers in the field, these rooms blend luxurious design aesthetics with ingenious storage solutions. The thirty stunning spaces featured include a traditional wood cellar finished with rich paneling and ornate lighting; a cathedral-like space that showcases

(and has a secret entry from a library inside the house); an inviting living room lined with temperature-controlled wood alcoves behind insulated glass; and an Old World terracotta cellar—within a sprawling entertainment center that includes a wet bar, a billiards table, and a tasting room.

wine

J acket photographs by an d rew french

Some of America’s most passionate oenophiles have re-

ironwork inspired by the French Quarter of New Orleans

becomes more an d more pressing. Li ving

J a cket d esign by jennifer k . beal d avis

e n t e r ta i n i n g p h e n o m e n o n .

wi t h

writer, author of The Battle for Wine and Love, and creator of

Wine collecting often starts with just one bottle. T hen two.

spurred a collecting and

living

Home magazine and a contributor

Americ a’s love of wine has

U. S . $7 5 . 0 0 /$9 2 . 0 0 C AN H ouse & H ome I S B N 978-0-307-40789-4

57500 9

780307 407894

potter

Living with Wine reveals the details that make the cellars a welcoming place to return—from the materials,

living wi t h

wine s a m a n t h a n e s to r

with alice feiring

photographs by an d rew french

artwork, lighting, and cutting-edge preservation technology to the way the space harmonizes with the rest of the house. From the Bay Area to Boston, Napa to New York, homeowners such as Nancy and John Lasseter, the founder of Pixar Studios; American Idol host and TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest; and entrepreneur Rick Ryan share insights into what they collect, why they started collecting, and how they designed their spaces to fit their passion. This elegant volume shows what it means to love and collect wine.