Essential Wine Storage Tips to Remember

Once you carefully craft your wine, you must also store it correctly to keep it in an ideal condition for consumption. Proper wine storage includes the right temperature setting, humidity level, position of the bottles and more. This may sound a bit complicated, but it is not. We share some essential wine storage tips below to remember for your wine to ensure that you preserve its flavour and overall quality in storage.

Ensure That the Storage Area Maintains the Correct Temperature

The ideal temperature range for wine is between 12-degrees and 14-degrees Celsius. Why this is so important is the fact that quality wine requires these temperatures to mature slowly. When the temperature is higher than this range, the wine does not have adequate time to develop its bouquet and structure. On the other hand, if the temperature is lower than this range, the wine will not develop in the proper length of time and you risk it freezing.

Proper Humidity Preserves the Condition of the Corks

Another part of effective, safe storage for wine is the humidity level of the area. The ideal range is between 50 percent and 80 percent to ensure that the corks do not dry out or absorb an excess of moisture. If corks dry out, they can shrink and allow air to seep into the wine. Also, the right humidity level preserves the condition of the bottle labels.

You Need to Store Bottled Wine Horizontally

All bottled, fine wine needs to be stored on its side to ensure the corks remain moist enough to keep air from seeping into the wine. Also, the bottles should be at a slight angle. This helps deposits sink to the bottom if any develop.

Provide a Dark Environment in the Storage Area to Prevent Damage from UV Lighting

Ultra-violet or UV light can cause degradation of the wine’s organic compounds and ruin its overall quality in a number of ways. For this reason, most winemakers prefer coloured wine bottles over clear ones and keep their wine storage area devoid of all sunlight. Even artificial lights need to be off when you are not in the storage area.

A Wine Storage Area Requires Adequate Ventilation

Provide adequate ventilation to your wine storage area to prevent intrusive odours and mould growth. Certain storage units come with built-in fans for this purpose, while at other times, you must add your own ventilation system.

For further tips on essential wine storage or for winemaking supplies, equipment and machinery, contact Grapeworks Consumables. We carry a wide assortment of products that will assist you with your efforts to create the ideal wine.