How you store your wine can make the difference between joyfully opening a perfectly scented, exquisite tasting wine to discovering unexpectedly that you now have a pungent vinegar. Wine lovers are very careful with not only which types of wine they buy but also how to store wine. Using the best conditions while storing your wine helps ensure a pleasant experience.

Don’t Let The Cork Dry Out

Storing wine on its side is done for a reason. This method of storage keeps the cork moist so it will not crack. Too much or too little humidity can also cause issues. Too much can cause mildew; too little can cause the cork to crack.

Minimize Movement

When wine moves in the bottle, it subtly changes the flavor. We recommend keeping your wine as stable as possible to maintain it at its best. When you store your wine in a wine rack it is less likely to be jostled.

The Right Temperature

Wines like to be kept at a consistent temperature that isn’t too hot or too cold. Ideally, wine should be stored between 5 to 18 degrees Celsius. A wine cellar is the most common solution to maintaining this constant environment. This makes certain the wine and the cork are at optimal temperatures.

Light Can Damage Wine

Generally, you want to store your wine in very low light or pure darkness as light breaks down wine. Fortunately, most bottles are currently made with ultraviolet filters to reduce the amount of light exposure. Too much light will cause the wine to have a repugnant aroma. Avoid storing your wine in a windowsill for this reason.

Have Your Opened Wine Still Taste Wonderful

If you minimize the amount of air in your wine bottle, the wine that is stored will last longer. So if you drank half the bottle of wine, it is recommended to store it in a smaller bottle. Many wine lovers who don’t want to transfer their wine to another bottle buy wine savers which exchanges the oxygen in the bottle for nitrogen.

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. (more…)