Whether you’re new to enjoying wine or have already developed your palate over years of imbibing, it’s important to know how to properly store your favorite vintage for maximum preservation and taste. Here are some helpful rules to ensure your wine collection doesn’t become something to whine about.
When…
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Positioning your wine
- Do: Store it sideways. This keeps the liquid against the cork, which decreases the likelihood the cork will dry out and allow air to enter the bottle.
- Don’t: Store it upright long term. You may see wine stored this way at liquor stores, but that’s because they have a high turnover rate and it’s harmless to store them upright for a few weeks.
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Choosing a location
- Do: Pick a place that is stable, rarely disturbed, and has little to no vibration.
- Don’t: Store it on top of your refrigerator. Between the constant hum of the appliance, the direct heat and light, and the continual opening and closing of the doors, your wine will suffer for the sake of convenience.
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Determining lighting
- Do: Keep it in the dark—literally. While most colored glass wine bottles have UV filters, that won’t provide your wine with total protection from the light. Keep your wine as far away from light sources as possible, preferably in a garage or basement.
- Don’t: Store your wine in direct light. White wine is more vulnerable to light degradation, which causes premature aging and significantly changes taste, but red wine subjected to excessive light will be affected too.
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Finding the right temperature
- Do: Keep it cool. Wine should ideally be stored at 55 degrees. Temperatures above 70 degrees will accelerate the aging process and negatively affect the taste.
- Don’t: Keep it too cool. Many people store wine in the refrigerator, but most fridges get colder than 45 degrees to safely store food and can dry out the cork, so this should be avoided long term. If you store your wine in your garage, make sure the temperature doesn’t drop low enough to freeze liquids. If you’re unsure, leave a bottle of water for a few days to test it.
Want to store your wine properly but don’t have the space or environmental control to do it right? A storage unit can be your wine’s new home! With a temperature controlled unit, your wine can be kept in a cool, dry, dark space, with no danger of disturbance or breakage! Contact the storage professionals at Secure Self Storage and take the leap from casual enthusiast to wine connoisseur today!