You have just come back from Napa Valley or your favorite wine region and have spent a little more than you planned to on that bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. You intended to spend a couple of dollars on each bottle you bought, maybe $30. Well guess what…you spent a little more than you planned. The winery was so beautiful you say. The experience of tasting was so well done. The staff was so friendly and yes the wine was so good…and expensive. Well anyway you did it. You went ahead and paid the money. The wine (good or bad) is now yours. You can’t just simply drink it for any reason so what you have to store it away for a special occasion. Today we will deal with just how to do that.
Light: To start with there are a few things to know about wine storage. There are a few things that will affect the wine and the eventual tasting of that wine. The first item we will discuss is light. Strong, direct light can ruin a bottle of wine. Light-bodied white wines are most susceptible to being damaged or ruined by light. Most wineries store their wine in wood or corrugated boxes. Keeping wine away from all light may not be possible or practicle but eliminating extended periods of time your wine spends in strong light is to be avoided.
Humidity: There is conflicting opinions as to what the perfect level of humidity is or even whether humidity is even important at all. Whatever the opinions are this writer feels that maintain some form of humidity is beneficial. If I had my way I would maintain humidity at least at 55 – 75 % although once again I will repeat that the jury is still out.
Temperature: This is a very important part of wine storage. Different types of wine should be stored at different temperatures which is why a dual zone wine storage area is advisable. In general temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods of time will ruin a wine. A more delicate wine such a a Riesling will be more apt to ruin as opposed to say Madeira which is made with high heat. On the other extreme wine that is exposed to cold temperatures such as freezing will destroy the cork by causing the wine to expand which will push the cork out and allow air into the bottle. Very large temperature changes like moving the wine from room temperature to a refrigerator frequently can cause chemical reactions which will alter the wine. The experts at Rosehill wine Cellars for instance recommend that wines be kept between 40 -65 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep in mind also that the cooler the temperature at storage the slower the wine will age. Since wine aging is affected by temperature we can speed up or slow this down. If a wine will be stored for short term then a temperature of 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit are acceptable. After researching many different articles I myself have come to the conclusion that the perfect temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit which is what mine is set at.
Position of bottle: Most of us are aware that the overwhelming majority of wine racks store wine bottles on their sides. The reasoning is that this position allows the cork to maintain some portion of itself wet which continues to keep the cork from drying out. The exception to this rule is for Champagne and Sparkling wines which seem to age better if kept upright. The recommended positioning of most wines is on it's side
The Desert Wine Guy
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