Wine Storage Tips
Tips for Creating the Ideal Wine Storage Conditions
Properly storing wine is essential to preserving its quality. Whether you are an occasional wine drinker who keeps a few bottles of wine at home or an avid wine connoisseur who has hundreds of bottles in his collection, understanding the proper storage conditions for various types of wine will help you prevent your favorite bottles of wine from spoiling.
When it comes to storing wine at home, keep in mind that you don’t have to have a wine cellar to build and properly store your collection of wine. While wine cellars are ideal for ravenous collectors, those with minimal space and limited collections can store their wine in cabinets, closets, extra rooms or any space in which you can create an ideal atmosphere for storing wine.
As you are creating the proper environment your wine storage space, keep in mind that different types of wine will require specific conditions to maintain their unique flavors and textures. Temperature, humidity and light are some of the most important factors that determine whether or not your wine will age with grace.
Wine Storage Temperatures
Cooler temperatures, specifically those between 43°F and 68°F, are ideal for storing wine. In this temperature range, the organic esters of wine undergo chemical reactions at a natural pace. Over time, these reactions help the wine age properly, lending it more body and character.
However, when the temperature of your wine storage space falls below or above this range, your wine is in danger of spoilage. In general, colder temperatures slow down wine’s natural chemical reactions, causing ruinous deposits or suspensions to develop within the bottle.
Alternately, temperatures higher than 68°F will accelerate the aging process because they cause the ester to undergo chemical reactions at a faster rate. In these conditions, bottles you expected to store for a certain period of time will be far past their prime, tasting particularly foul, by the time you retrieve them.
Here is a table that outlines the specific storage temperatures for various types of wines:
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Type of Wine |
Ideal Storage Temperature (°F) |
|
Full-bodied red wines with high tannin counts (i.e. cabernet sauvignons, merlots, etc.) |
59°F to 68°F |
|
Light-bodied red wines with low tannin counts (i.e. gamay, pinot noir, etc.) |
54° to 57°F |
|
Dry wine and rose wines (i.e. sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, etc.) |
46°F to 57°F |
|
Sparkling wines and champagnes |
43°F to 47°F |
Keep in mind that the temperature of your chosen storage space will fluctuate, especially during seasonal changes. While seasonal temperature fluctuations within 10°F won’t damage the wine, daily or even weekly changes in temperature are likely to speed up the aging process of your wines. Typically, white wines are far more likely to spoil under temperature changes than reds wines.
Another important point to remember is that, while red wines can generally be served as soon as you pull them out of storage, white wines will move from your chosen storage space to a refrigerator before you serve them.
Humidity and Ullage
While humidity describes the amount of water vapor, or moisture, in the air, ullage is a term that refers to the distance between the wine’s cork and the wine itself. Along with affecting wine’s flavor, the humidity of your storage space will alter the ullage, which can allow oxygen to enter the wine bottle if the cork shrinks too much.
Over time, the wine’s contact with oxygen causes it to oxidize, spoiling the wine as it raises its acidity. Ultimately, oxidized wine will taste bitter.
Ideal humidity for wine storage is any factor higher than 70 percent RH (relative humidity). Within this range, the cork will remain sufficiently expanded to protect wine from coming into contact with oxygen. Similarly, a properly expanded cork will prevent wine from slowly leaking out of the bottle.
In general, newer wines and quality wines that have been stored for less than 15 years will have higher wine levels that sit closer to the cork. Over time, wine levels will slowly drop. The rate at which they drop depends on the quality of the wine (better wines fall at a slower rate) and the atmosphere of your wine storage space.
While you should expect the level of wine to fall, it shouldn’t fall below the shoulder of the bottle. In these cases wine has spoiled for some reason and, therefore, is undrinkable.
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Preserving Wine Labels
Along with taking care of the wine inside the bottle, you will also have to preserve the bottle’s label, especially if you are planning to sell the wine later (the price you can fetch will be significantly lower if the bottle’s label is damaged). To prevent wine labels from peeling or getting stained, outfit them with plastic protective label covers, which are available at wineries and specialty online retailers. |
Light and Wine Storage
In addition to the temperature and humidity, the amount of light in your storage space can also affect the natural aging process of wine. Too much light will raise the temperature of the wine, causing it to age faster and likely spoil. While wine in clearer bottles is more vulnerable to light than wine in darker bottles, sparkling wines are typically the most sensitive to light.
To minimize the amount of light in your wine storage space, choose a basement, windowless room or cool cabinet, as each of these areas already has minimal light. If you plan on installing overhead lighting in your wine storage space, use softer lighting options (such as sodium vapor or incandescent lights), rather than the harsher fluorescent lighting.
Other Factors that Affect Wine Storage
Here is an outline of other factors that can affect and potentially ruin your wine:
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Storage angle: Store wine horizontally so it sits on its side. In this position, wine maintains contact with the cork, keeping it moist to prevent oxygen penetration and damaging oxidation. The one exception to this rule lies with fortified wines (Except for port: Port should be stored on its side.). Store fortified wines standing up.
To help you see the gathering sediment of your aging wines, be sure to store wines with their labels up. This way, sediments will gather on the more translucent underside of the bottle. -
Ventilation: Because cork is a porous material, odors can easily penetrate them over time, seriously affecting the taste of your wine. As a result, be sure that your chosen storage space is well ventilated so that any odor doesn’t linger in it and spoil your wine.
- Vibrations: Vibrations from noise or persistent jostling will unsettle aging wine, preventing it from properly gathering sediment on the underbelly of the bottle. Ideally, your wine storage space should allow the wine to rest, undisturbed by movement and noise.
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