Staying ahead of the curve: Las Vegas company builds unique wine cellars

Wine cellars are becoming a staple in luxury homes, and this Las Vegas company is staying ahead of the curve.

Seventy or 700 bottles, residential or restaurant, old school or new school, Las Vegas Wine Cellars can construct a cellar to fit anyone’s collection.

Founder Eric Murphy started the company when he noticed a hole in the luxury market. There was no one company constructing only wine cellars in Las Vegas; they were all out of state.

Since launching his company, Eric Murphy has crafted wine cellars in some of the most high-profile homes in the valley — from those owned by celebrities, sports stars and team owners to billionaires and CEOs.

While Eric Murphy is running the show, from time to time he gets design help from his father Michael Murphy, a founding partner of Blue Heron, the custom homebuilder behind some of the sprawling desert contemporary estates in custom home communities. Although Michael Murphy is no longer with Blue Heron, he still has his hands in architecture in the valley.

What sets Eric Murphy apart from other wine cellar companies, his father noted, is he knows wine very well.

Eric Murphy was a butler at Wynn and a captain server at RM Seafood. As one can imagine, he has tried vintages and high-priced wines from across the world, like Richebourgs, French wines and vintages from the ‘40s to ‘70s.

Not only that, but he is also a sommelier qualified by the Court of Master Sommeliers.

“I take pride in knowing more of that hospitality service, winemaking side and incorporating that into the design and construction,” Eric Murphy said. “I’ve got to work with some great wine directors, sommeliers and got to serve, open and pour some just fantastic wines for people.”

Wine cellars in luxury homes, trends

Wine cellar trends have moved away from the “old school” look of the past. Rather than being in your uncle’s basement, luxury homeowners have moved to display their wine collections and reflect more contemporary, modern trends.

“For a long time, wine rooms were very wooden like a dusty old wine cellar,” said Eric Murphy. “So, I think that you’re seeing a lot more of the steel, aluminum, glass, acrylic, kind of more modern, contemporary materials than traditional walnut with clear stain.”

Another big difference from wine cellars and displays of the past is cork and bottle orientation.

“I think so for the longest time, a lot of the wines were basically the cork out, which is the bottle, you know, facing out towards you,” said Eric Murphy. “Now, you actually can see the label. I think that’s been more of the contemporary style of showing off the wines and wine labels.”

A wine cellar can also elevate the space, as seen at one of their installations in the southwest part of the valley. Located near the front of the house, where the wine cellar is located used to be a small alcove, with enough size to fit an alcove table and a picture.

Now, it has been transformed into a new school wine cellar, with an around 80-bottle capacity, with wire racks, glass doors, RGB lighting and a cooling element, keeping the wine at a perfect 55 degrees.

Although, this wine cellar is slightly different from what he typically constructs, with around 60 percent of his customers only looking for display cases, rather than a cooled unit.

Eric Murphy believes wine cellars have become pillars in luxury homes because of their historical significance. Also, many luxury homes are sprawling estates, with the capacity for hosting, which wine goes great with.

“Wine has always been, for a long time, for priests and royalty. It’s always been this kind of elevated drink throughout history,” said Murphy. “I think that it’s just almost something kind of deep seated in human psychology of wine being sort of a special beverage.”

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.