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On Storing Wine at Home

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Once you have found some ageworthy wines, then comes the question of how to store wine at home. When storing wine, you should consider temperature, humidity and light. Wine does not have to be stored in complete darkness, but it shouldn’t be stored in direct sunlight either.

Corks need some humidity, neither too high nor too low. They can dry out with low humidity, and mold can be an issue if it is too humid. I happen to live in an area of high temperature and humidity. An air conditioning system de-humidifies as well as cools, so if you do not have air conditioning, it is essential if you don’t have a separate temperature/humidity controlled environment for lengthy wine storage.

Temperature is what most people concern themselves with when storing wine. Of course, the best thing is to store your wine at the same temperature year round. To do this you need either an actual cellar or a temperature controlled system of some kind. Failing that, find the place with the most constant temperature in the house. Temperature is very important. This is why most experts do not recommend long term wine storage in a kitchen. Temperatures in most homes change with the season. As long as the change is gradual, and your wine does not vary more than 8-10 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year, you should be OK for a few years. I would not recommend this for 10-15 years of storage.  Mid -high 70’s is the absolute max temperature. This will accelerate the aging of your wine – it will get old faster.

If you decide you want to have a specific place to store your wines under perfect conditions, you have a whole bunch of choices. They range from buying a small wine storage cabinet to building an actual wine room/cellar. As you might imagine, a small wine storage cabinet is much less expensive than converting your garage into a temperature/humidity controlled wine room. The point is, figure out how much wine you want to store first. Then plan on how to do it. For most of us, storing wine in a specifically designed  cabinet will do very well. What you decide to do will also depend on the kinds of wine you want to keep, and when you want to drink them.

Be careful how you store the wines. I had the opportunity to have a good 30 year old Bordeaux stored at 50-52 degrees for most of its life. The wine was still purple – a sign of youth. An agewothy wine like this, stored near 50 degrees can live for 100 years. I’m pretty sure you would want to have some of it before then. If you could keep wine at a constant 60 or 65, the wine would be fine, it would mature faster, and you would have a chance to enjoy it before departing for the big vineyard in the sky.

Most of the world’s wine is consumed within 24 hours of purchase. If you are going to drink your wines a couple of weeks after you buy them, it doesn’t much matter where you keep them, unless you are thinking of a 97 degree garage. If you are planning a couple of years ahead then you’ll want to learn a bit more about how to store wine at home.


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