HOW SHOULD WINE BE STORED?

If you only intend to keep wine for a few months and live in a relatively moderate climate you really do not need to worry about wine storage. However, if you intend to cellar your wine for a longer period, you should store your wine correctly. While wine is a fairly robust substance, fluctuations in temperature and humidity can greatly affect it.

perfect climatic conditions
Most experts agree that wine should be kept at a constant temperature somewhere between 14ºC and 17ºC. Temperatures much lower than this will stunt maturation, while higher than this will prematurely age the wine. The relative humidity of a cellar is best kept between 65 and 75%. Levels lower than this can cause the corks to shrink, allowing air into the bottle, and cause oxidation. Environments greater than 75% can cause mould. This can affect not only the wine’s taste, but it will also reduce the bottle’s resale value. If your cellar temperature & humidity is within these ranges, then you wine is being kept in ideal conditions.

Other key considerations include:

Watertight
Flooded cellars are all too common, especially when located below ground

Sufficient air changes
A cellar with no air movement will promote label mould, while too much air movement can dry out the corks. Foul odours can also affect wine.

Limit exposure to light sources
UV light can cause hydrogen sulphide compounds to develop in wine.

Reduce vibrations
Vibrations can affect the speed of chemical reactions within the wine.

Pests and insects
Collections have been totally devastated by pests after just short periods of neglect.

Security
This includes keeping temptation away from yourself, family and friends!

Turning the bottles
This is an old wives tale. The bottles must be left undisturbed