7 Important Wine Cellar And Wine Storage Tips
- By Holly Peters
- Published 01/10/2012
- Wine and Spirits
- Unrated
We all should know that wine is a beverage that has to undergo chemical changes in a gradual manner in order to reach its optimum quality. For wine enthusiasts and wine collectors, here are seven important tips about wine storage and wine cellar.
First and foremost is to consider the quality of the wine. The flavor, aroma and other characteristics of wine improve as it ages but this is not always true for wines of poor quality. A bad wine remains a bad wine.
So it is important to choose wines of good quality and store them under ideal conditions to let them age gracefully. Remember, a wine that's already damaged can never improve.
Second, store your wine bottles horizontally on its side to keep the wine in contact with the cork. This position prevents the cork from drying and shrinking and stops oxygen from entering and cause oxidation of the wine.
When you start positioning your wine bottles though, make sure that the label is up to avoid unnecessary repositioning of the bottle when you need to see what's on the label. Movement causes a disturbance to the wine aging process. Storing wine bottles with the label up also ensures that the label is protected from possible scratches and preserves the value of your wines.
For champagnes and sparkling wines, you may store them in an upright position because they naturally produce carbon dioxide which goes up to the bottles neck, creating a protective layer that separates the wine from air.
Third, store your wines at a cool temperature all the time. Wine cellars should ideally keep the temperature constant at 55 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit and this is achievable with the use of a wine cellar cooling system. Just make sure that the wine cellar cooling system you choose is highly efficient and suits your wine storage needs.
You also have to be aware of the effect of large temperature fluctuations inside your wine storage room. This causes wine to expand and contract, and the cork to be pushed in and out of the bottle. Eventually, this may allow oxygen to gain access to the bottle and oxidize the wine inside producing an "off" taste and smell.
Fourth is to control humidity, an environmental factor which also determines the success of wine storage and wine
aging. The ideal humidity level is between 55% and 65%.
A normal cork is intact, compressed, maintains moisture and creates a very tight seal. Low humidity levels will cause the cork to dry out and decrease its elasticity and as mentioned previously, we don't want this to happen because of the possibility of oxygen entering the bottle which causes oxidation. You certainly did not buy wine to produce vinegar.
An efficient wine cellar cooling system can keep not just the temperature but also humidity at ideal levels to achieve successful wine storage.
Fifth, keep your wines away from sunlight and UV exposure. Light and radiation via ultraviolet light can hasten the aging process and produce a "cooked" flavor which is irreversible. Light colored wine bottles are more prone to the harmful effects of light and while darker bottles are better, UV rays can still penetrate through dark colored wine bottles.
Take special precautions with sparkling wines as they are much more sensitive to the effects of light. The best way to keep your wines safe from the damaging effects of light and radiation is by keeping them in dark places. Wine cellars usually don't have windows and the best lighting to use inside is the type which emits very low UV rays.
Sixth, avoid noise and vibration inside your wine cellar as this causes a significant disturbance to the natural aging process. During this process, sediments are formed and should be left to settle. Vibration and sound waves disturb the sediments and may potentially hasten the chemical process involved in wine aging.
So be sure to check with your wine cellar manufacturer about the stability of their wine storage racks or cabinets and carefully plan with them the design and structure of your wine storage room.
Seventh is to know the wine's storage period. Different types of wine require different storage or aging periods. Some wine labels mention how long you should keep the wine before drinking it but others don't.
The best thing to do is to contact the wine store or winery which produced the wine or simply do some research on the internet. Wine experts may have varying suggestions on how long you should age a particular wine because this matter is a bit subjective. Just get the average aging period to make sure that your wines are aged to their peak of quality and for you to be able to estimate when you can enjoy drinking your age worthy wines.
First and foremost is to consider the quality of the wine. The flavor, aroma and other characteristics of wine improve as it ages but this is not always true for wines of poor quality. A bad wine remains a bad wine.
So it is important to choose wines of good quality and store them under ideal conditions to let them age gracefully. Remember, a wine that's already damaged can never improve.
Second, store your wine bottles horizontally on its side to keep the wine in contact with the cork. This position prevents the cork from drying and shrinking and stops oxygen from entering and cause oxidation of the wine.
When you start positioning your wine bottles though, make sure that the label is up to avoid unnecessary repositioning of the bottle when you need to see what's on the label. Movement causes a disturbance to the wine aging process. Storing wine bottles with the label up also ensures that the label is protected from possible scratches and preserves the value of your wines.
For champagnes and sparkling wines, you may store them in an upright position because they naturally produce carbon dioxide which goes up to the bottles neck, creating a protective layer that separates the wine from air.
Third, store your wines at a cool temperature all the time. Wine cellars should ideally keep the temperature constant at 55 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit and this is achievable with the use of a wine cellar cooling system. Just make sure that the wine cellar cooling system you choose is highly efficient and suits your wine storage needs.
You also have to be aware of the effect of large temperature fluctuations inside your wine storage room. This causes wine to expand and contract, and the cork to be pushed in and out of the bottle. Eventually, this may allow oxygen to gain access to the bottle and oxidize the wine inside producing an "off" taste and smell.
Fourth is to control humidity, an environmental factor which also determines the success of wine storage and wine
A normal cork is intact, compressed, maintains moisture and creates a very tight seal. Low humidity levels will cause the cork to dry out and decrease its elasticity and as mentioned previously, we don't want this to happen because of the possibility of oxygen entering the bottle which causes oxidation. You certainly did not buy wine to produce vinegar.
An efficient wine cellar cooling system can keep not just the temperature but also humidity at ideal levels to achieve successful wine storage.
Fifth, keep your wines away from sunlight and UV exposure. Light and radiation via ultraviolet light can hasten the aging process and produce a "cooked" flavor which is irreversible. Light colored wine bottles are more prone to the harmful effects of light and while darker bottles are better, UV rays can still penetrate through dark colored wine bottles.
Take special precautions with sparkling wines as they are much more sensitive to the effects of light. The best way to keep your wines safe from the damaging effects of light and radiation is by keeping them in dark places. Wine cellars usually don't have windows and the best lighting to use inside is the type which emits very low UV rays.
Sixth, avoid noise and vibration inside your wine cellar as this causes a significant disturbance to the natural aging process. During this process, sediments are formed and should be left to settle. Vibration and sound waves disturb the sediments and may potentially hasten the chemical process involved in wine aging.
So be sure to check with your wine cellar manufacturer about the stability of their wine storage racks or cabinets and carefully plan with them the design and structure of your wine storage room.
Seventh is to know the wine's storage period. Different types of wine require different storage or aging periods. Some wine labels mention how long you should keep the wine before drinking it but others don't.
The best thing to do is to contact the wine store or winery which produced the wine or simply do some research on the internet. Wine experts may have varying suggestions on how long you should age a particular wine because this matter is a bit subjective. Just get the average aging period to make sure that your wines are aged to their peak of quality and for you to be able to estimate when you can enjoy drinking your age worthy wines.
Holly Peters
Holly Peters has designed wooden wine racks perfect for wine storage and aging. Check out her unique wine rack designs.
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