Page 122 - The Hunt - Spring 2021

FOOD & DRINK
Down to the
Champagne
Cellar
Inside Elizabeth and Vince Morro’s big dig.
During the fall of 2019— in those almost-forgotten days when people could
travel anywhere, anytime— Elizabeth and Vince Moro toured the Champagne wine country in France’s Marne Valley on their delayed honeymoon. There, they visited the vast underground limestone caverns where millions of bottles of pricey bubblies age. Suddenly, it occurred to Vince: “I want to build a Champagne cave.”
The timing couldn’t have been better. The Moros were in the midst of redoing their old farmhouse west of Chadds Ford, Pa. There would be plenty of space between the house and the farm pond. The Moros began with the excavation in the winter months and continued working on the project over the spring and summer. This past October, the couple finished their underground hideaway, celebrating (of course) with a bottle of sparkling wine.
Thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Moros had
plenty of time to work on home improvements—and they weren’t the only ones thinking about building or expanding wine cellars. “I’ve never been busier—it’s been crazy,” says Don Cochran, who’s Coatesville, Pa.-based Cellarium Inc. installs wine cellars for families
up and down the Mid-Atlantic. “It’s like everyone suddenly thinks, ‘Hey, honey. Let’s build a wine cellar!’”
Perhaps his clients are somehow channeling the Moros. “When we were excavating for our addition project, we ran across the remains of an old root cellar,” says Vince. “I had to think quickly—the entire project was unplanned. I dug footings to support what I thought would be
a good size and went from there, employing best practices and high standards.”
And if you’re going to the trouble of digging an outdoor wine cellar, it’s always helpful to wed ambience and functionality. In the middle of the floor sits a Queen Anne table with four chairs, and a gilded mirror reflects the light from candles mounted on wall sconces. The barrel ceiling is laid with bricks, striking the right rustic note—as do the stucco walls and pea-size gravel on the floor. “Don’t let the cat get in,” quips Elizabeth. “It’ll think it’s a big litter box.”
The cellar is a short walk from the house, although its entrance isn’t readily visible except for a small decorative obelisk peeping up through an herb garden. There’s a small patio located outside the cypress door, and the exterior is stonework with a half-circle brick archway. “I wired it for electricity,”
120 THE HUNT MAGAZINE
spring 2021
By Roger Morris | Photographs by Jim Graham