How To Store Wine

How To Store Wine

How To Store Wine

Tips on Storing Wine

Basically, "cellaring" means you've stashed away more wines than you can drink tonight, and hope you'll keep your hands off them long enough to allow them to age and improve. Below we offer our tips on storing your wine.

Gas 'N Save

  • A wine's flavors change after contact with oxygen: you can save any leftover wine by spraying inert gas into the open bottle to force the oxygen out before recorking. These small canisters of wine preservation spray can be purchased from wine stores and The Tipsy Grape. The VacuVin wine preservation sytem is also very popular.
  • Keep opened Champagnes and sparkling wines bubbly by using a clamp-type stopper (called a bouchon). Store in the refrigerator and drink within a few days.

Temperature

  • The most important thing in storing wine: don't expose bottles to extreme temperature fluctuations
  • Ideal cellar temperatures range from 42°-57°F (6°-14°C)
  • Wines will be fine stored at temperatures as high as 68°F (20°C), and sometimes even a few degrees higher, but they will age much more rapidly.

Light

  • Keep bottles away from sunlight or artificial lights: but don't worry, the adverse effects will be reversed once the wines are again in darkness.

Quakes

  • Keep bottles undisturbed (away from vibrations)

Humidity

  • Wines don't like extremely low humidity. If you live in the desert and find yourself becoming increasingly wine geeky, you may have to spring for a specialized wine storage unit.
  • Don't store wines in the refrigerator for long periods: the corks will dry out.
  • Store wines on their sides to prevent the corks from drying out.

Atmosphere

  • If digging two miles of subterranean wine caves is beyond your means, you can store your wines in the bottom of a closet or pantry, far from light and heat (e.g. the kitchen, washing machine, hot water heater, water pipes, refrigerator, etc.).
  • You can stack cases of wine on their sides, but as you remove bottles things can get shaky. There are many types of wine racks available for sale that will keep your wine bottles from getting broken and keep the wine in the proper storage position.
  • The thick Styrofoam sleeves available from wineries and wine stores are good insulators.