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How to store wine
publication date: Nov 29, 2006
Factors affecting wine over time
Once it is firmly stoppered in a bottle, wine should be protected from it greatest enemy, the oxygen in the air. If, however, the cork dries out and eventually shrinks so that it no longer acts as an airtight seal, it may start to allow oxygen in to the wine and spoil it. For this reason, wine bottles have traditionally been stored on their sides, so that the wine keeps the cork thoroughly damp and swollen to fill the bottleneck. Screwcapped bottles can be stored at any angle however.
The actual temperature at which wine is stored is also important. Care should be taken than it never falls below -4°C, the temperature at which the lightest wines freeze and can fatally force corks out of bottlenecks. On the other hand, there is a temperature, about 27°C or 80°F, above which a wine's more volatile compounds may be boiled off forever. (See some detail consideration of this in the your turn archive.) In very general terms the ideal wine storage temperature is probably between 10 and 15°C, but no great harm will come to wine stored between 15 and 20°C so long as the temperature does not fluctuate too dramatically causing the wine to expand and contract rapidly, with a risk of letting air in. Maximum and minimum thermometers can be very useful for monitoring potential places to store wine.
Humidity is also quite important. If wine is stored in too dry an atmosphere for several years, the corks can dry out and stop being an effective seal. Damp coal holes are good for the condition of the wine but can rapidly damage labels. (The Japanese will apparently pay a premium for old wine with perfect labels, whereas some British wine connoisseurs are wary of this combination.)
An absence of strong smells is absolutely vital (no old cans of paint or garden chemicals). In practice, security has to be weighed against ease of retrieval, with the relative importance of these two factors dependant on things like your income and willpower.
The ideal cellar
It follows from all of the above that the ideal place for wine storage is a nice, dark, roomy, slightly dank cellar with a single discreet entrance to which only you have the key. It is lined with wine racks but has masses of room to walk around and to stack wine in its original cases, as well as little tasting corner and a large desk for keeping cellar records up to date.
For most of us, alas, this cellar belongs in the realm of fantasy. Most modern dwellings have a shortage of storage space of any kind, let alone somewhere cool, dark, quiet, slightly damp and roomy enough for a cache of bottles. Garden sheds and all but the most protected outbuildings are unsuitable in the British climate because of the danger of the temperature's dropping below -4°C. The main problem with most possible indoor places, on the other hand, is that they are too warm. Central heating boilers tend to be put wherever there is spare storage space, which rules out storing wine there - unless the boiler can be insulated. Insulation of this sort is generally the key to establishing some decent permanent territory for a large wine collection, whether of a basement, an attic, or a slice of a room which becomes a walk-in wine cellar. Many people will be unwilling to make this much commitment however and are really looking for somewhere to store a dozen or two bottles. They could be kept in an attic, basement or corner of a spare-room under an insulation blanket, or even in an old fireplace or possibly under the stairs. It is useful if possible to keep a bowlful of water on the ground near the wine to keep the humidity level up.
Bottles can be stored in wooden wine cases, or those made from the strongest cardboard, so long as the corks are kept damp. A proper wine rack will last longer and can be made to any shape you specify. Double depth models can be useful.
The worst place to store wine (a fact unbeknown to most kitchen designers) is by a cooker or on top of a fridge where there are frequent blasts of hot air.
If you are serious about wine you can buy an 'artificial cellar', a temperature- and humidity-controlled cabinet like a refrigerator which keeps reds and whites at pre-ordained temperatures in different parts of it. Eurocave is the leading supplier in the UK. Click on the Eurocave link on the home page or see details of a special offer for purple pagers - save 10%!
It is also possible to buy a spiral cellar which can be sunk into a specially excavated hole under ground level, but the installation can be messy. Key ‘spiral cellar’ into the general search box for extensive coverage of these facilities of which I, for one, have one.
Using professional storage
Much the easiest option in some ways, particularly if you have a large quantity of young wine, is to have it stored by professionals, either under the auspices of the merchant(s) you bought it from or directly with one of the specialists in wine
warehousing. This will cost a few pounds per year per 'case' (the standard box containing dozen bottles) and should ensure that the wine is stored in ideal conditions, but it rules out the spontaneity of picking bottles at random from your wine collection. Some of these also offer advice on when to drink your wines. See UK professional wine storage survey (2005) and Professional wine storage (2003) for detailed comparisons of leading options in the UK and elsewhere. Recently Octavian have announced that they are investing in improved temperature and humidity controls at their operation in Corsham and will be adding another facility closer to London for professional use.
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