I hadn't been to The High Line yet and then forgot to go to Chelsea Market when I did, so went back to Chelsea Market and then later decided to get some wine I saw there so went back again to Chelsea Market and wasn't really paying attention and then was standing in front of this door.
So I rang the bell and went in.
Much like The Cave, Chelsea Wine Storage is in the basement of a historical building, in this case the old Nabisco building, or what is really a complex of buildings built over time to accommodate many rounds of bakery mergers. Nabisco would be the final merge of 114 bakeries.
Also much like The Cave, this is a great bit of architecture well and wisely re-purposed, exactly as wine storage should be - underground and historical with all the character that lends. The gentleman on guard was polite to my intrusion, and I appreciate his allowing it at all.
Also smart: the owners of the wine storage own Chelsea Wine Vault in the Market. I picked up a bottle of this stuff as a gift, but I went there at all because they had a pretty good, recognizable-to-this-troglodyte, selection...something along the lines of Even a Caveman Could Buy Wine Here. Then you can go downstairs and put it in your locker.
I know, it's full of tourists, but they did a really good job with this place.
(PS - if you're thinking of moving your wine from The Cave to Chelsea Wine Storage, we charge $198/yr to store 18 cases of your wine...versus their annual fee of $720. Just saying.)