Important Facts About Wine Storage

In days gone by a vintner had little choice as far as wine storage solutions went. He could keep wine in crocks or barrels, but had no way of controlling the temperature the wine was exposed to, let alone the humidity. Many wines that were kept for long periods of time might well have turned to vinegar by the time they were opened. Later it was discovered that the conditions in caves and cellars were good for the keeping and aging of wines, and so wine cellars were born.

A basement is also an ideal place to store your wine. The conditions need to be cool, dark and airy without any temperature fluctuations, and free from vibration and dampness. Wine should be kept at 12-15 degrees Celsius (53-59 degrees Fahrenheit) with a relative humidity of 65-75%. Good solid insulation can go a long way towards keeping your basement within that range. However if you live somewhere where it tends to get very hot, you may want to consider getting an air conditioning unit for this area. That is because even though insulation will keep heat out, and prevent rapid temperature changes, it will also keep heat in. This means that over a 4-5 day heat wave the temperatures in your basement can rise to an unsafe level and can then remain there for several days more.

For any serious collector with a highly valued collection they should be very cautious and monitor temperature stability accurately. It would be well worth installing a refrigeration unit or humidifier for the cellar or even a straight forward storage cooler could be used. Wine storage coolers come as small as one bottle coolers to as large as entire refrigerated rooms. This will prevent damage due to a heat wave occurring at the same time as a power outage. Should the wine bottles warm up at all there is a tendency for the corks to shrink, thus letting in air Air is one of the worst factors that can negatively affect the quality of wine causing oxidation. This oxidized wine would now be termed 'corked' and have to be discarded.

Bottles of wine should be stored on their sides horizontally. Special crates are available for bulk stacking, or the traditional racks which can be stacked one on top of another would serve well. Align the bottles so that the corks are visible, this will allow easy inspection of leakage.

Recommended sites:
http://wines-vineyardtours.com/Wine-Racks.html
http://wines-vineyardtours.com/Wine-Storage-Coolers.html
Rob Hemphill is a Winemaking Consultant & Internet Entrepreneur
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