[EBOOK] Wine Storage Nothing New Under The Sun

Wine Storage - Nothing New Under The Sun

There is so much more to wine that putting the bottle of white out on fish nights and the bottle of red
out on beef nights. Wine is at the heart of a culture and those who belong to that culture are on
intimate terms with its history, which they find every bit as interesting as wine tasting.

And a big part of the history of wine is the history of wine storage. Knowing what has been
understood as successful wine storage in the past may shed some light on present and future effective
wine storage techniques. Wine storage, it seems, has changed surprisingly little over the millennia.

In The Middle Ages

Wine storage techniques were developed in medieval times in order to ensure a steady supply of wine
during times of war, siege, and famine. Wine, in those times, was not only a beverage; both wine and
beer provided dietary nutrients to those whose diets were often lacking them.

The first wine storage containers were “wineskins”, made of animal hides and bladders. They were
followed by clay pottery; Greek and Jewish potters produced “amphoras” capable of storing several
liters of wine. The amphora was ideal for wine storage, as it prevented both light and heat from
reaching and destroying the wine, and is still used for wine storage in many areas of the world.

The First Bottles

When glass began to be produced efficiently and economically, it was not long before wine, in
keeping with its elegant mystique, was bottled in crystal, glass, or porcelain. It was some time before
those materials were available to anyone but the privileged class.

Today vineyards bottle their wines in glass, which is the predominant medium for of wine storage.
There are, of course, six packs of wine, and some cheap win is sold in plastic containers, but plastic is
neither eye-pleasing nor suitable for protecting wine from light and heat. Those who buy wine in
plastic bottles, however, are probably not the same people who keep it stored for years and the wine in
the bottles is likely released shortly after purchase.

Wine Storage Today

Today wine storage can involve the use of intelligent wine storage units, with different compartments
the temperature and humidity of which can be adjusted to suit the needs of different wines. Wine
storage techniques also has evolved to adapt to the use of cork sealed bottles, which must be stored on
their sides in suitably humid environments, so that the corks stay moist and do not shrink.

But the knowledge that heat and light are the enemies of wine has been around for thousands of years,
and remains the basis for all wine storage systems even today.

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