Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Jerry Martin
Intricately hand-carved details of vines and grapes etched into the thick, wooden door hint that just on the other side lies a special room.
When John and Sue Pat DuBose built their new home along the shore of Logan Martin Lake, they knew winds on the open water could quickly turn into a damaging storm. So a safe room naturally was part of the blueprint.
They also knew their love of wine had to be central to the grand plan as well, so they turned their safe room into a wine cellar that even the savviest connoisseur would envy.
It is still a safe room. But it’s so much more.
John got the idea from a neighbor who turned his laundry room into a safe room. “I thought, if he can do that with a laundry room, why can’t we do a wine cellar?,” he said.
John installed the redwood shelving himself along the walls of the reinforced concrete. While it looks like a wine cellar, it fits all the specifications of a safe room. “It’s the real deal,” said John.
He put the bracing in, building what he needed in his shop. “The rest of it was just putting it together. I’m a woodworker wannabe,” he joked. But his handiwork tells a different story. It is a masterful blend of shelving and accents that make it as fine and rich as a bottle of Bordeaux and as light as a Sauvignon Blanc.
He cuts and solders copper as a hobby and added his own brand of art to the décor. An impressive piece, depicting grapes dangling from a vine, is just the right touch on a rear wall of the cellar. The lighting is equally perfect — a chandelier hangs in the center; its prominent elements simulating a grape vine with its bounty. A butcher-block table holding a bottle-sized wine opener centers the room underneath the chandelier.
The only ‘mistake’ turned out to be a complement to the wine collection and the couple’s circle of friends. John erred in ordering a portion of the shelves to accommodate half bottles of wine. His collection doesn’t include those, so he opted for diversity — those shelves now holding an array of beer cooled at 56 degrees. “We have a lot of friends who like beer,” Sue Pat said.
Much of their wine collection comes from trips made to the wine country in California and Washington with good friends Sandra Mullinax and Randy Royster. The foursome have quite a few tales from their treks that began in the early 1990s when Sandra was working for San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. On her sales meeting trips, she would go on wine excursions during free time, and her discoveries eventually led to bringing her friends along for adventures in wine tasting.
“That got us started,” said John. “Sandra knew about wines. If I had gone out there, I would have been a tourist.”
As most do, they started in Napa but soon branched out to other areas, traveling further up to Sonoma, Dry Creek and Mendocino. Then it was on to Washington, where they once traveled 1,100 miles visiting vineyards “and never left the state,” Randy said.
They have stayed in every accommodation from bed and breakfast inns to larger hotels along their way. They have sampled the fruit of the Gods at vineyards large and small, getting to know the owners and always coming away with an entertaining story that inevitably begins with, ‘Remember when’ and an unmistakable smile that accompanies good memories.
Outside the cellar, wine themes abound at the DuBose home. A wine cask-shaped, wire basket holds an assortment of wine corks from some of their favorite bottles. A display of wine labels from vineyards they have visited doubles as a work of art in the hallway just outside the cellar. Hanging nearby is a painting by their daughter, Suzanne Garrett, of John’s grapevines he planted in Pell City’s Pine Harbor community.
Settling into the comfortable great room overlooking the lake once the “wine cellar tour” is complete, DuBose and friends share a bottle of wine, reminiscing about the trips they have made together, their favorite vineyards and their favorite glass of wine. For John, it is a “really good Zinfandel.” Sue Pat is partial to a pinot noir, “especially with a meal.” Sandra savors “a good red.” And Randy likes “all of it.”
They share a love of wine, memories of trips past and those yet to come. It is a bond that is easy to spot even if Sue Pat’s Tshirt didn’t give it away — “Wine & Friends,” it says. “The Older the Better.”
