Starting a wine cellar isn't complicated, but once you decide to stash 20 or 30 bottles of wine, a key decision is where it should go.
The worst location is where it is 70 F or more. Wine is fragile and, like beer, must be kept cool to retain freshness and perhaps even improve in the bottle. Cooler is better.
My first wine cellar was underneath my house. Terra cotta drainage tiles were embedded in the earth, each holding a bottle. The system maintained cool temperatures. Four decades later, some bottles remain in good shape.
Updated: Tue Jun 18, 2024