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W I N E CO U N T RY T H I S W E E KWINE COUNTRY NEWSSafe Haven for Your Wine Storage and Shipping Needsby Dave WilcoxOn a recent autumn morning at the end of the harvest season,Corrine Appelbaum was busy organizing an event for tastingroom managers throughout the Paso Robles region hosted by SafeHaven Wine Services, a wine storage facility owned by Appelbaumand her husband, Daniel.The managers would gather that evening in Safe Haven’s plushprivate tasting lounge, which Corrine Appelbaum emphasized isas important to the business as the state-of-the-art storage lockersin the climate-controlled facility adjacent to the lounge.“Fostering that sense of community within the area’s wineindustry is a big part of our marketing plan,” explained Appelbaum,who personally designed the warmly decorated lounge,which features a full wet bar, a gaming table, a large conferencetable, plasma television, comfortable seating and gorgeous corkflooring.“It’s not just a storage facility.”Safe Haven Wine Services was born of personal necessity. TheAppelbaums had compiled a collection of fine wine while livingin Northern California for five years and they wanted to ensure itcould be stored properly when they returned to the Central Coast.They had lived in Arroyo Grande, where they raised their children,and had frequently returned to the area to visit.On their visits, the Appelbaums were struck by the transformationtaking place within the wine industry on the Central Coast,especially in Paso Robles.“You just couldn’t help noticing that something was happeningin Paso Robles,” said Corrine.With that in mind, they expected it wouldn’t be difficultfinding a facility dedicated to storing wine. Instead, they foundthemselves crafting a plan for a new business.There were climate-controlled units at El Camino Self Storagein Atascadero, a large, multi-use center, which is where the Appelbaumsstored their wine until opening Safe Haven in June.In the meantime, the couple traveled throughout California,visiting virtually every storage facility in the state. They returnedwith a list of lessons learned and ideas for how to improve onwhat they saw.Daniel Appelbaum has extensive experience in shipping andlogistics, while Corrine’s background is in sales. Together, theyhave created a business that caters not only to local wine collectors,but also travelers who rely on Safe Haven to store and shiptheir wine and boutique wineries without the space or staff toproperly keep their wine.Most wine collectors understand the importance of maintainingproper temperature and humidity for wine storage andrealize the value of a facility like Safe Haven.“It protects your investment,” said Corrine Appelbaum.Consumers who sign up for a winery’s wine club can have theirmonthly offerings shipped automatically to Safe Haven WineServices for storage, said Appelbaum. Tourists, also, can use SafeHaven to ship their wine, instead of having it sit in a hot carduring their trip home. Because shipping wine can be complicateddue to various state restrictions, Safe Haven maintains adatabase of state-by-state shipping laws.“We’re a really good solution for that kind of scenario,” shesaid.The 4,300-square-foot facility near the intersection of Highway46 East and Golden Hill Road includes 292 secure lockers locatedin a temperature- and humidity-controlled room. The lockerslook like oversized school lockers and can each store up to 12cases. Custom-built racks are also available.A number of membership plans are offered, with the cost tostore wine starting at $25 a month for one locker.Safe Haven Wine Services is located at 2732 Danly Court, Suite104, in Paso Robles. You can reach the company at (805) 238-7233, or visit its website at www.safehavenwineservices.com.www.winecountrythisweek.com 17