While established firms design storage, this 31-year-old CEO is creating functional art that’s redefining luxury wine spaces
The traditional wine cellar follows a predictable formula. Wood racks, often mahogany or redwood. Wrought iron accents. Dim lighting that suggests old-world cellars in French chateaux. Climate control hidden behind classic aesthetics. Storage capacity prioritized over design innovation.
Walk into a wine cellar designed by Andrew Roberts and that formula disappears.
Custom millwork that treats each project as a unique artistic statement. Contemporary materials that challenge industry conventions. Lighting designed to create ambiance and showcase collections. Technology integration that connects to smart home systems. Spaces that function as both storage and architectural focal points.
“I approach my craft as functional art, creating truly custom one-of-one wine cellars that blend the client’s personal taste, style, and life’s work with a piece of my own heart and soul,” Roberts explains. “This is a legacy for me.”
That philosophy represents a fundamental departure from how the wine cellar industry has operated for decades. And it’s why Roberts, at 31, has become the youngest wine cellar design and build firm CEO in the world while taking market share from competitors in their 50s and older.
The disruption isn’t about technology alone, though Roberts leverages modern tools his older competitors often overlook. It’s about reconceiving what a wine cellar should be in contemporary luxury homes.
Previous generations built wine cellars primarily for function. Storage capacity mattered most. Temperature and humidity control were the technical requirements. Aesthetics followed traditional patterns because that’s what clients expected and designers knew how to deliver.
Today’s luxury buyers want something different. They want spaces that reflect their personal aesthetic. They want integration with contemporary architecture rather than period pieces that feel disconnected from the rest of their homes. They want wine cellars that impress guests as much as they preserve collections.
Roberts delivers that modern sensibility because he’s more in touch with contemporary design trends than competitors who built their reputations decades ago. He follows current architecture movements. He understands how luxury buyers think about their homes as holistic aesthetic experiences. He speaks the design language of Instagram and Pinterest rather than traditional wine cellar catalogues.
“Because I’m young, I’m hungrier to prove myself but I also have a creative touch that my competition doesn’t have,” Roberts states. “I’m also more in touch with modern architecture, style, and technology that I don’t think my competitors are.”
That creative touch translates into projects that challenge expectations. Wine cellars that incorporate unexpected materials. Lighting schemes that transform spaces from functional storage into dramatic showcases. Climate control systems that integrate invisibly rather than dominating design decisions. Technology that enhances usability without compromising aesthetics.
Each project becomes truly custom because Roberts refuses to rely on templated solutions. A celebrity client with specific privacy requirements gets a completely different design than a hospitality group building a wine program for restaurant customers. A modern coastal home needs different aesthetics than a traditional estate in hill country.
The one-of-one approach requires more creative effort than using established formulas. It takes longer to design from scratch than to adapt previous projects. It demands understanding each client’s unique vision rather than selling them on a pre-existing aesthetic.
But the results justify the investment. Clients who could choose any established firm in the country are selecting Prestige Wine Cellars. Celebrities Roberts can’t name due to NDAs. Top hospitality groups including Red Ash, The Guest House, Boa Steakhouse, 1618 Asian Fusion, Cambria Hotels, and Muckleshoot Casino.
They’re not choosing Roberts because he’s cheaper or faster than competitors. They’re choosing him because his work feels current in ways that traditional wine cellar design doesn’t.
The path to disrupting an established industry didn’t follow a conventional trajectory. Roberts is a military veteran who experienced homelessness before entering wine cellars through a friend’s connection. After training in California and relocating to Austin, he quickly proved he could compete in luxury markets.
But within a year and a half, Roberts recognized the company owner was running an unstable business. He left to start Prestige Wine Cellars, betting he could build something better.
That decision required confidence that most people in their 20s don’t possess. Starting a luxury design firm without established credentials or capital seemed nearly impossible. Competing against firms with decades of reputation and extensive client networks seemed absurd.
But Roberts had advantages his older competitors couldn’t replicate. Hunger that comes from experiencing genuine hardship. Creativity that emerges from not being constrained by industry conventions. Discipline learned through military service that translates directly to luxury craftsmanship.
Those qualities allowed him to compete on quality despite lacking experience advantages. Each project became proof that innovative design combined with flawless execution could overcome the credibility gap that age and reputation normally provide.
Prestige Wine Cellars has scaled from Austin to Dallas and Houston, with aggressive plans to expand into California, Las Vegas, Arizona, and Florida over the next five years. The goal is to become the nation’s leading custom wine cellar designer and builder.
Achieving that requires maintaining the custom approach that differentiates Prestige Wine Cellars while building systems that allow consistent execution across multiple markets. It’s the classic scaling challenge: how do you grow without losing what made you special in the first place?
Roberts is solving that through deliberate team building and process design. Each market gets dedicated designers capable of delivering truly custom work. But those designers operate within frameworks that ensure quality standards and creative standards remain consistent.
The expansion strategy targets markets where luxury buyers already appreciate contemporary design and are willing to invest in spaces that reflect their personal aesthetic. California, Las Vegas, and Florida all have established high-net-worth populations who view their homes as canvases for expressing individual style.
Showrooms in each market will provide visibility and allow potential clients to experience completed work firsthand. For luxury buyers investing substantial sums in wine cellars, seeing the difference between functional storage and functional art accelerates decision-making.
The wine cellar industry’s established players are watching a 31-year-old redefine what’s possible in their space. Some will dismiss Roberts as a flash in the pan. Others will attempt to copy his contemporary aesthetic without understanding the strategic thinking behind it.
Most will continue doing what they’ve always done, serving clients who want traditional wine cellars and don’t question industry conventions. They’ll maintain their comfortable local businesses while Roberts builds something they can’t compete against: a nationally recognized brand that represents the future of luxury wine storage.
For luxury buyers tired of wine cellars that look like every other wine cellar, Prestige Wine Cellars offers something rare: truly custom design that treats each project as functional art rather than functional storage. That’s not just disruption. That’s transformation.
Connect with Andrew Roberts:
Instagram: @prestigewinecellars
Facebook: @prestigewinecellars
YouTube: @prestigewinecellars
Email: andrew@theprestigecellars.com
Website: https://www.theprestigecellars.com/