Private Somm Fine Wines is the dream of certified sommelier Kory Luebke, who moved to Woodstock after a stint as a sommelier at Augusta National Golf Club for several years. Using his extensive knowledge of wines from around the world, he wanted to create a location for both wine enthusiasts and those new to wine to gather, learn, and explore. His design of the store was inspired by a famous wine store in San Francisco and he wanted the design to showcase the wine bottles and labels with a high-end feel.
The wine racking was designed to hold six bottles of wine per bin standing up so customers could see the labels. A row of featured bottles is displayed on their sides, highlighted by undermount LED lights from above. Two areas for art displays were set to help break up the wall and provide texture and pops of color, as well as areas to display specific labels or other items. All of the lighting in the wine racking is tied together on a single dimmer switch. Overall, the wine racking is 35’ long and just under 12’ tall. The bins were built as uniform sets of cabinet boxes, with the boxes accommodating the 10 bins, display slopes, or storage cabinets at the top. The bottle bins above the two wine coolers on the short were designed to hold the oversized magnum bottles. Fully loaded, the racks can accommodate up to 3122 bottles of wine. To access the top racks and storage cabinets, a rolling ladder from Putnam Ladders was installed to run the entire length of the racks on a brass rail.
In the middle of the store is an 18’ by 4’ table. The top is two matching pieces of Corian. The bases were built with doors on both sides for much needed storage for the store. The table base was painted with Behr’s color of Midnight Blue for a subtle pop of color against the Polar Bear white of the rest of the cabinetry.
On the window wall is a glasses rack for stemware used during events and wine tastings. A cabinet beneath it holds other items used during events. The rack uses a brass frame with oak shelves and header finished in Rubio Monocoat’s Chocolate, which is the same finish on the ladder. The stemware holders had to be modified to accommodate the large foot of the stemware.
The point-of-sale counter was built at a 42” height and was designed to house an open-aired refrigerator holding bottled items. Electrical drops were included to power the various credit card machines and other POS items. The Corian used on the table was also used to top the point-of-sale counter, glasses cabinet, and two art displays on the wine racking.
As a final touch, a frame for the TV was built to match the oak shelving for the glasses bar.
For this build, we used a water-based urethane product from Renner Italia. It is a very fast-curing, hard urethane enamel system that creates an extremely solid coating that resists the rough wear and tear of wine bottles. It is a spray-only system that uses a catalyzer to create the durability.
