Cheese Grotto

We are interested in a way to store nice cheese. Came across the cheese grotto. https://cheesegrotto.com/ Anyone try this and if so is it worth it.

My sense is this is supposed to go in a refrigerator. We don’t have the room for that. So a second question is whether having it in a wine cellar would work. Wine cellar is at a steady 58 degrees F and 70 humidity. I know they say closer to 90 is better for cheese. We obviously don’t what that level in the wine cellar. So I assume it means the cheese might last six months rather than 12. Is that the only concern. Or are we missing something Many thanks in advance!

Read the FAQ, they don’t recommend in the cellar.

seems like it would depend on how the wine cellar is set up:

Can I store the Grotto in a cellar?
Although a cellar can be a cool environment please note that we do not recommend leaving the Grotto in your basement or cellar if you do not normally store food items unattended in that environment. There are ambient molds in a basement or cellar that can latch onto a cheese. If you’d like to keep your Grotto at a warmer temperature than a refrigerator but cooler than the kitchen counter, we recommend a sanitized wine fridge that will have no ambient molds.

I doubt meant wine cellars are the equivalent of a sanitized refrigerator,but I’m sure a billionaire somewhere has 1 or 2.

I should have noted earlier that I had emailed them about this and got a very quick and useful reply – great CS:

Hi Ronald! While the Cheese Grotto can perform well there, it will be important to keep in mind that temperatures above the refrigerator can expedite a cheese’s ripening. A cellar is not a “set it and forget it” solution for cheese as you would need to check in on the cheeses to see how they are ripening, especially the cut wedges. If they are whole wheels, they need less maintenance than cut pieces and you can actually ripen whole wheels to develop flavor and texture in the Grotto! It is also important to have a sealed wine cellar for the Grotto as ambient cellar molds could have an impact on the cheeses in the Grotto as it is an breathable unit. So if your cellar is sealed and easily accessed, you can definitely try storage down there, especially for whole wheels. If it’s inconvenient to visit the cellar frequently, I’d recommend either enjoying your cheese within the week from the counter (under 70F) or fridge storage which will prolong the shelf-life of cheese wedges for the longest period of time out of any method.

Please let me know if you have further questions, and if there’s any topic you’d like a deep dive on (for example, aging whole wheels of cheese), and I can provide more information on that.