If we always got what we wanted we would all wish for a lovely air-conditioned and air-circulated wine cellar. This would provide the perfect environment for best aging and you’ll could rest assured their conditions would be stable. 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 great advice for storing your wines safely.
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 perfect temperature to maintain your wines at is 10° to 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. Direct light can not only affect the temperature of the wine and air inside the bottle but also discolour it. The humidity levels of the air found in the storage room can have dramatic effects on the cork, causing it to swell or contract. This can result in air forcing its way into the bottle and causing oxidation, a well known negative that occurs when wine has prolonged contact with oxygen.
Positioning. You should lay the wine bottles on their side or slightly elevated when in storage. This is due to a real risk of the cork losing its natural moisture and contracting if not in contact with the wine. These again can lead to oxidation as mentioned before.
Display. You don’t allows want your wines tucked away in a dark room. Sometimes you want to bring them out for the world to see. A good choice is wooden wine cabinets as these tend to maintain a steady temperature and always go for one that lets you store your wines on their side.Don’t pick any that have a glass cover or doors as they can often trap heat inside when there is light on them.
Tags: display, drink, home, red wine, temperature, white wine, wine storage