Having a fantastic collection of wine that has been personalised and selected to suit your taste is everything a wine lover dreams of. There is a long process that goes into tasting and finding the flavours that you love. You need to be patient, open-minded, and willing to spend some money to build up a unique, tasty range of delicious wines in your home. However, choosing and purchasing your wines is just the start of the process. If a wine isn’t stored correctly, then it can spoil and lose its quality, so here are 5 tips for storing wine at home.
The Right Temperature
Temperature is the most important factor that you need to consider when storing your wine. If you store a bottle in unsuitable cold or warm temperatures, it will spoil. To ensure you are storing your wine at the right temperature, you should speak to your wine merchant. Once you have gathered the info you need, you should work hard to ensure that the storage temperature remains as stable as possible.
Store Open Bottles Properly
Once you have opened your bottle, you need to store it properly. If you don’t have wine storage that is constantly dark, moist, and cool, then you should invest in a wine refrigerator. Your normal fridge aims to keep your food dry and cold, whereas a wine cooler will keep wine at the proper humidity. If a wine goes through humidity extremes, the longevity and appearance of the bottle will be impacted.
Keep Bottles Horizontal
If your wine bottle has a cork, then you need to make sure that it is stored in a wine rack horizontally. When the wine is on its side, it will keep the cork moist, which is essential for long-term storage. When a cork dries out, it can lead to premature aging and seepage. You do not have to keep your screw-top wine bottles horizontal, but it is an efficient, attractive, and easily accessible way to store your wine.
Avoid Light and Vibration
Whether you are storing your wine for days, weeks, or months, you should make an effort to protect it from light and vibration. If you leave bottles in direct sunlight, the UV rays can damage the aromas and flavours. If you store your wine near a washing machine, dryer, or stereo system, the vibrations could disturb the bottle’s sediments, which will ruin the desirable aging process of the wine.
Serve Wine Correctly
Serving your wine correctly will make all of your hard work of storing it properly worthwhile. You should give your stored bottle time to come up or down to the correct serving temperature. This will allow people to enjoy the intense flavours and aromas of the wine. To start building up your unique collection of wine from all around the world, you should take a look at The Crafty Vintner selection.
When preserved correctly, any wine can last for decades and grow in quality and value. Following these tips will allow you to store your favourite wines for long periods, without ruining their taste.