One of my favorite things, especially after a long day of either working or kid wrangling, usually both, is relaxing with a glass of red wine. With that said, I am by no means a wine snob or expert but I do know a few things about how it should be stored.
There are lots of ways to approach this. Most people will have a store-bought rack to house a few bottles and some people go nuts building alters to the God Dionysus in rooms that cost as much as my house! My preference is to keep things simple, yet interesting, to create a feature out of my wine collection. And not go crazy. My kids take care of that already.
First, the basics!
Keep it cool…
In general, red wine ideally needs to be around 55° F, white a bit cooler at around 45°. More importantly, wine needs to remain a consistent temperature. On top of your refrigerator or near your cooking surface is a not a good idea. In a wine refrigerator would be best if you have the space. Just remember if it gets too hot, you get bad wine.
Keep it dark…
Were not talking dungeons here. Most wines will have UV protected bottles but even so, wine does not like direct light. Placing them near windows or doors, for example, would not be ideal. Too much light, you get bad wine.
Keep it still…
Storing your wine in high traffic areas or on top of a refrigerator (which we’ve already established is a no-no) where the bottles will be vibrated is also not ideal. Wine has natural sediment in it that if constantly bumped or moved, will not settle and will ultimately result in, again, bad wine.
Keep it sideways…
This one is extremely important as the majority of wine makers out there still use corks. The corks need to remain in contact with the wine to prevent the cork from shrinking and letting in oxygen, potentially oxidizing the wine. Dry corks mean bad wine.See the point here?
When thinking about your own wine storage situation, get creative with it! Hide the bottles behind an interesting panel or in a cabinet. If you’re more like me, show your bottles off! Just keep it cold, keep it dark, keep it still, and keep sideways. If you do, wine storage is easy and can become an unique feature in your home. Even if you don’t drink wine that often, it’s never good to make good wine go bad. Or worse, drink bad wine!
Here are some fantastic examples of creative wine storage. Salute!
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