Once you’re into wine and understand the nuances and pleasure that come with every glass of delicious white, red, or bubbly, you get into the habit of buying it for future enjoyment.
Being a wine lover comes with being a good host. You know you want to keep a few bottles at home either for you, your friends and family or for a special someone.
Starting your wine cellar, it doesn’t matter if it has a few bottles or a few cases, is a delightful hobby. But there are some things you need to know before becoming a cellar master; especially if you want your wine in good shape, and you do.
There are risks in storing wine, unavoidable dangers that lure every cellar, from restaurants to good homes. Wine is a living thing, and like any living thing, it has predators. Heat and oxygen should be your biggest concerns because wine is helpless against them; and it’s OK, that’s where you step in.
A dry environment, without proper humidity, will first damage your labels, but you’re in trouble when dryness hits the corks. Cork is made of natural tree bark, and it will dry out if you’re not careful. Dry corks allow oxygen into the bottles, ruining your precious wine.
Heat will also speed up the wine’s natural aging process, making an excellent age-worthy premium bottle, decay prematurely. Heat will not damage your collection per se, although it just might.
Temperatures above 95°F (35°C) are a big no-no since there’s a risk that the wine might expand, pushing the cork and letting oxygen into the bottle. Fruit aromas might cook if you leave your bottles for even a few minutes in the trunk of your car on a sunny day.
Store your wine and the right temperature, and the proper humidity, and you’ll be just fine. This is what you need to know.
A steady 70 percent air humidity is ideal for storing wines in the long term, but anywhere between 50 and 80 will do. Getting the right temperature is a bit trickier, an ideal 50°F (10°C) to 55°F (13°C) will allow the wine to age with grace, but anywhere between 45°F (7°C) to 65°F (18°C) will be fine for a few months.
You might also consider keeping your wine away from a direct light source since light rays act rapidly on the wine’s moody molecules. Calm and steady is another thing you want to remember, even the slightest vibration for long periods will accelerate the wine’s aging process.
If you can’t afford a proper wine cellar, consider a professional storage service, or just keep your bottles in a dark closet or under your stairway. Remember that storing wine for future consumption or collecting it as a hobby needs tending. Follow our tips above, and you’ll have a beautiful wine cellar always waiting for you to come back home.
References:
Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson Wine Atlas revised 7th edition p.37
