The ideal situation would be if we all had great big wine cellars that had air conditioned systems and air purifiers. This would give the wines the best change of aging perfectly and we wouldn’t have to worry about them at all. Unfortanaly this is very rarely the reality and so we have to make the most of what we have to work with. Here is some top advice for storing your wine collection properly.
Location. Your bottles, both white and red wine, are best placed in a cool room, away from the light and with moderate humidity levels. The ideal temperature for storage should be between 10° and 16° C (50° to 61° F).Anything higher than this will lead to a decrease in wine quality but anything higher than 25° C will seriously damage the wine’s flavors and body. leaving the bottle in direct sunlight can not only discolor it but also affect the air temperature inside the bottle. The bottle’s cork can expand or shrink depending on the levels of moisture in the room air. This can sometimes have the effect of letting air into the bottle and causing something called oxidation, an annoying situation that happens when the liquid is in contact with oxygen for extensive time.
Positioning. You should lay the wine bottles on their side or slightly elevated when in storage. This is due to the theory that if the cork is not in contact with the wine at all times it will lose its natural moisture and shrink. This can again cause oxidation as detailed above.
Display. Keep your wines hidden away in a dark place is not always practical. often you will want them to be on display so you can admire them. A good choice would be a wooden wine cabinet because these tend to maintain a steady temperature and you can also store your wine glasses, dinnerware and other glassware etc in there too. You don’t want any that well jeopardise the thermoregulation of the wine so avoid cabinets with glass panels or doors as these trap heat.
Tags: drink, home display, wine glasses, wine storage