Cask Call

“I had clients from California who are wine connoisseurs, and they wanted to do something really fun with their cellar,” says architect Jay Dalgliesh. “I knew Willie Drake [from Mountain Lumber] had just acquired these giant wine casks from Bordeaux, and so we figured out a way to use one of them.” The aged barrel wasn’t tall enough to walk through comfortably, so he had it raised on a plinth of wine racks. Contained within a 14-by-18-foot basement, the cask serves as a passage between a tasting area and storage for 2,000 bottles. The original chalks, used to keep the barrel in place, were incorporated into the design, while the entire front piece (spigot intact) is mounted on the wall and used as a serving bar. The circle of fine spirits is made complete with reclaimed barrels from the Guinness factory in Ireland, which were used to create many of the surrounding elements. Builder: Jeff Smith & SPN, Charlottesville, Va.; Architect: Dalgliesh, Eichman, Gilpin & Paxton, Charlottesville; Cabinetmaker: Hynek Bilek, Renaissance Cabinets, Louisa, Va.; Cask supplier: Mountain Lumber, Ruckersville, Va.; Photographer: Peter Vanderwarker.