What's Hot Now: A Wine Cellar in Your Home

The who's who among the country's luxury homeowners used to dazzle guests and jealous neighbors by sitting them down in the plush leather chairs of their new home theaters.

But today, the home-entertainment system is as common a luxury as an iPod. Now a new breed of specialty room -- the wine cellar -- is fast on its way to becoming the next standard in luxury real estate, says Jim Donald, president of Tuscan Wine Cellars. He estimates that nine out of 10 homes in the high-end areas of most cities have them.

Glenn Norrgard, senior vice president at Sotheby's International Realty saw the cellar trend take off in New York City four or five years ago with the advent of larger, more upscale downtown condo developments. A loft in Soho, one of the first to adopt this trend, added a tasting area to its cellar.

According to a 2007 study of 407 Unique Homes readers and luxury homeowners sponsored in part by consulting and design firm Wine Trend, over half of the respondents said the importance of wine amenities has increased compared with five years ago; they gave increased wine collecting as the main driving factor.

Paul Koder, president, CEO and wine consultant of Wine Trend, says realtors should no longer expect high-end buyers to want a space without wine storage. Deluxe amenities, such as wine cellars, ranked as a very important factor in considering the purchase of a home with 90% of the survey respondents.

Through globalization, increased travel and more-disposable income, Americans are becoming increasingly savvy about what's on their plates and in their glasses.

Koder, who attends expos in France every year and has cooking and sommelier degrees, expects per-capita consumption of wine in the U.S. to equal that in Europe in 2008. This is good news for companies such as Constellation Brands (STZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which recently conducted a survey of premium wine consumers that showed a large percentage of them buy and drink wine to project a more sophisticated image.

In the U.S., says Donald, "It's becoming more common to have a couple glasses of wine with family or friends than to drink a case of beer."