The large gas fireplace serves as a gathering place in the tasting room at Denny and Bernadene Dochnahl's house. River rock on the fireplace wall complements the other natural materials - slate, wood and brick - used throughout the room. Purple and scarlet river rocks shaped like grapes are clustered above the mantle to suggest hanging grapes.

For the novice homebuilder, this may seem a risky way to start building the cellar and wine room of your dreams. But since Denny had more than 40 years' experience working in and running a construction company, they knew they couldn't get too far off the mark. With no specific budget or time line, it was a work in progress.

"What we wanted was not just a wine room, but a multipurpose room where we could relax, experiment with winemaking, pick up the furniture, clear the floor space, dance, and just enjoy the company of friends and family," Bernadene says. "Beyond use, we really didn't know exactly how this room was going to look."

The Finkel wine cellar is a warm, intimate room lending itself to interesting conversation and deep thoughts - all served with a glass of wine. Charles, center, and Rose Ann, right, enjoy an afternoon in their cellar with friends Jerry and Molly. Lit mainly by an antique chandelier, the room, though small, is big on ambiance. Natural woods of cedar and oak are used throughout.

Much of the room came together as a result of ideas from friends. One suggestion led the Dochnahls to have a wine barrel installed around a center support beam, creating an ingenious decorative barrel table. More barrels are stacked three high in the middle of the room, doubling as a focal point and partition separating their future winemaking area from the spacious lounge and bar with floor-to-ceiling river-rock fireplace.

Adjacent to the large, full bar is a huge painted mural of a vineyard scene. Look closely and see the Dochnahls' 1928 Graham Paige making its way across the winding road to a house — their house — peeking out from the rolling hills in the distance. The artist thought it would be fun to paint the landscape with a few symbols of sentimental meaning to the owners. The Dochnahls were thrilled.

A stroll around the cavernous room reveals impressive hand-painted tiles in the walls and stone flooring throughout. Each tile is original — part of an eclectic assortment the Dochnahls picked up on vacations to all parts of the world. "We've been collecting these tiles for years, not knowing exactly where we were going to use them," Denny says. "When we came up with the idea of using the tiles to finish out the room, I thought this could be really cool or really dorky," a laughing Bernadene chimes in. "I think it turned out to be quite good."

In contrast to the sweeping wine room at the Dochnahl house, Charles and Rose Ann Finkel's wine cellar and tasting room is an intimate retreat into their past, filled with cherished wines, liqueurs and an array of beers collected through a lifetime interest and long career in the wine and spirits industry.

"We love all kinds of beverages," Charles Finkel says. "I think the fallacy with wine in particular is that it has to be expensive to be good. That is simply not the case. Pretension is what I object to." Charles was one of the first local dealers to distribute Ste. Michelle wines, long before this local icon added the Château to its name.

A drop ceiling above the bar creates intimacy within this large space. On the far wall of the Dochnahls' room, a life-size mural of a vineyard scene was painted to give the impression of a window to the outside.

The informal bar wrapping around one side of the room was designed to display Denny Dochnahl's huge collection of personal memorabilia. The glass-top counter shows matchbooks from defunct Seattle restaurants, a napkin from their wedding, admissions tickets to the 1962 World's Fair, and an array of other artifacts collected through the years.

Walking down an elegant narrow spiral stairwell leading to the cellar, you get the distinct impression of being led to a special, private place.

At the bottom landing, behind a heavy wrought-iron gate that once guarded the Montana capitol building, is this domain. The cellar is the tasting room, a private, cave-like space that offers a sense of what it might be like to sit inside a barrel of merlot. At the far end of the cellar are some of the Finkels' favorite collectibles: vintage liquor advertisements, giant bottles of champagne, rare and interesting beverages presented almost as though they were on an altar.

In the center of the room, an antique chandelier hangs above a large wooden table, the stage for many, many dinner parties. It is a Finkel philosophy that wine was made to be enjoyed with food.

It's hard to imagine that this place was originally a sewing room, converted into a cellar some 27 years ago with the help of architect and woodcraftsman Detlev Kroll. The conversion is definitely complete. So is the sense of comfort and conviviality.

Sharon Prill is a Seattle Times staff writer. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.