Vulnerability of Vino is concern at storage sites.

In 15 years, Ben Benoit has built nearly 1,000 wine cellars throughout California for most every kind of customer, from small-time hobbyists to wealthy connoisseurs to world-class restaurants such as Napa's French Laundry.

In all that time, he was only asked twice to design storage units to withstand a catastrophic earthquake.

"It is not high on people's priority lists," said Benoit, owner of Newbury Park-based Cellar Masters Inc. "For the most part, they are amazingly blase about it because they have lived in California for so long."

But catastrophe is getting a closer look these days. The devastating eight-alarm warehouse fire in Vallejo earlier this month that destroyed as much as $100 million worth of wine underscores how vulnerable these bottles can be. Authorities said arson was the cause of the blaze, with the investigation now involving the owner of another wine storage business who faces embezzlement charges.

Generally, the facilities that store wine appear secure, though not impenetrable. Many of the newer wine warehouses have sprinklers, climate-controlled systems and a layout that is supposed to minimize breakage in an earthquake. But there also are facilities in older buildings that are meant to replicate traditional European cellars, down to the dust.

Operators are taking various measures--from advising customers to lay their bottles flat to bolstering their buildings with steel supports--to assure collectors that their wines are in good hands. At Terminal 55 LLC in Van Nuys, wine is stored in steel lockers that are enclosed in mesh cages and attached to the ground with enlarged feet.

"While nothing is perfect, there is no way to eliminate the risk. They feel good because we can best mitigate that risk," said Alex Miller, Terminal 55's co-owner.

Benoit claimed that the Northridge earthquake did little to the thousands of bottles stored in cellars he constructed. Of his 32 cellars in the San Fernando Valley, nine bottles were lost--and all because they were standing up.

At private wine storage facilities, similar tales are told. No bottles were destroyed in the quake at the Wine Locker in Van Nuys and at the Wine Vault in Glendale. At Cave Wine Storage Lockers in Glendale, manager Veto Homer said one bottle was lost, and that was because it was loose when the earthquake hit.

Homer said he depended on the solid construction of the 80-plus-year-old building. "It is a pretty secure outlet. It literally is a cave," said Homer. (After the quake, though, steel beams were installed to reinforce the structure and assuage any fears about the safety of the wine.)

Jean-France Mercier, owner of Tixa Custom Wine Cellar in West Hollywood, invented a locking device that clamped an individual bottle to the wine rack. If there were another strong shaker, he figured, the locking device would prevent any chance of breakage--and for 75 cents a piece, he thought the devices were a steal.

But he had few takers. "We need another earthquake," he said in explaining the lack of interest. "We haven't had one in a long time."

Mercier said that a new wine cellar could be the safest part of a house. He reframes all the ceilings and walls, and then packs the walls with insulation to enhance cooling. "That makes the room extremely strong," he said.

The insulation also protects against fire, as do temperature gauges that monitor a cellar's environment. When the temperature goes above a certain level--say, 65 degrees--an alarm goes off.

Many of the private storage facilities have sprinkler systems. At the Wine Vault, owner Nancy Hathaway noted that wine bottles must be kept two feet from the ceiling so there's nothing obstructing the sprinklers' spray. "I am fiercely in compliance with all the rules. My clients appreciate that," she said.

Lou Liuzzi, owner of the Wine Hotel in Los Angeles, doesn't foresee a fire causing extensive damage at his facility because it is not fire prone. The facility has no kitchen, only one pilot light (for the water heater), and it's across from a fire station.

For lawyer Joel Deutsch, precautions taken by storage facilities have made him feel comfortable about storing wine away from his house. "My wine is probably safer at the Cave Wine," said Deutsch, who has hundreds of bottles stored at facilities throughout L.A.

Environmental conditions are tightly controlled--usually the temperature is maintained at 55 degrees, with 70 percent humidity. Rental rates range from about $100 per year for a small locker storing from 12 to 20 cases (12 bottles per case) to nearly $8,000 for a 1,000-case walk-in unit. Often, collectors store wines that need to be aged for a long time--perhaps 15 to 20 years--to maximize their investment. Wines at home are for everyday consumption.

The storage facilities' policies are for their structures and don't include the collectors' bottles. Wine lovers can insure their own vintages against fire and earthquakes, but not a lot of carriers offer the coverage.

"There are not many people that cover a $4 million house--you run into the same problem here," said Seth Hopkins, a personal insurance manager in the downtown office of Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

Chubb is one of the few carriers that cover wine collections, and Hopkins handles policies for affluent customers who mostly have large wine collections stored in their homes.

One of the complications is that value of a bottle of wine can fluctuate considerably over its life. That means the wines have to be appraised regularly, usually 60 days before a policy renews, according to Hopkins.

Generally, premiums range from 50 cents to $1 for $100 of coverage, depending on the risk. "Different places are more exposed to earthquakes. It is based on the environment in which they are in," he said.

Beyond earthquakes or fires, collectors worry about theft at storage facilities. Deutsch said it's important to trust the facility managers before entering into rental agreements. "You can insure against the other stuff to a large extent," he said.

But collectors acknowledge that no wine facility is failsafe. Even the best preventive measures aren't going to stop a large earthquake from wiping out entire wine collections.

"We have done everything to make sure the racks are bolted down," said Liuzzi. "If we had the big one, people wouldn't care about their wine because their house was gone."