Article Important Facts About Wine Storage

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

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