Wine Storage: Simple Tips to Manage your Home Collection

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If you are a wine enthusiast or you simply entertain guests often and love to have a selection of wines to choose from, then you might want to ensure you are storing your wine properly. In the wild world of wine storage there are many misconceptions, fancy appliances and certainly a large variety of opinions on the correct way to do so. Here at Wine Mine in Telluride, Colorado, we are keeping it simple and sticking to a couple of basic rules to maximize your wine storage efficiency. Keep these three factors in mind when it comes to wine storage in your home and you will find the quality of your wine will stay consistent over time.

Keep it cool and consistent.

One of the most important things to consider when storing your wine is the temperature of the room it is in. Maintaining a consistent temperature in one room can be a bit challenging depending on the construction of the building, which is why a basement or cellar generally becomes the best location for your wine. But if you are not blessed with one of these superb locations, then not all is lost. Your wine can be stored in other locations in your home, as long as the temperature isn’t fluctuating drastically. Wine likes consistency. Ideally, the temperature should be somewhere between 53 and 55 degrees, but if this is not easy to accomplish don’t rip your hair out if you can’t get it just right.

The darker, the better.

When considering the location of your wines, there are two main factors to keep in mind: sunlight and stillness. As wines are aging in storage, they are by no means sun worshippers and you should avoid storing them anywhere near direct sunlight. The rays from the sun can cause the contents of your wine bottles to prematurely age, which can lead to the development of inconsistencies in the final taste of the wine itself. The darker the better in this case.

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Another thing to consider when choosing a location is how much movement is occurring around the wine bottles. Many of the appliances in our home create tiny vibrations throughout the day that might be completely unnoticeable to us, but to a bottle of wine these vibrations are definitely felt and can be damaging to the integrity of the wine. Avoid storing your wine on top of the fridge or near any other appliance or object that might be subtly vibrating throughout the day.

On the side is the way to ride.

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Lastly, the orientation of your wine bottle will make a huge difference when it’s time to pop the cork and pour. It is important that the cork in the bottle does not dry out, so storing your wine bottle on its side will help prevent this. Why is this a big deal? A dry cork is much easier for air to get through, consequently increasing the risk of oxidation. We’re not going to bore you with the details of this fancy scientific term, but basically early oxidation of the wine before opening is not a good thing.

We could of course dive deeper into the biology of other environmental factors that could affect your wine, but mastering these three elements will be sufficient enough for the wine storage needs in your home. And if you’re looking for an even more unique wine storing experience, have you ever wondered how we got our name, Wine Mine? We have access to a one of a kind wine storing location inside of an abandoned mine right here in the Telluride area, ask us about it next time you’re visiting!

Sources:

https://learn.compactappliance.com/wine-storage/