Wine can be very expensive depending on the type, region of origin, age and condition. If wine has been stored correctly it can last for many years. It is very common when old shipwrecks are discovered at the bottom of the ocean to find wine on board in excellent drinking condition. The reason for this is the near perfect storage conditions. Wine needs to be stored in the correct temperature and humidity. Wine should also be stored in a still environment with no odors in the air. Dirty storage containers, and exposure to air can cause a wine to quickly turn to vinegar. Of course, not all wines are meant to be aged. Most wines that are meant to be stored and aged are red. Very few white wines need time to mature. For this reason, most white wines are purchased on an as needed basis.

Basic Storage Conditions

For a wine lover, a cellar is helpful. Fine wines are worth paying extra for only if you can store and eventually serve them in good condition. Rarely are wine cellars part of the standard home design, so finding the appropriate place to store wine is an issue for most people. The principles behind storing wine are not complex, difficult to understand or necessarily difficult to achieve. And if you cant achieve them all, some of them are better than none.

Wine is alive. As such, it reacts either positively or negatively to its environment. How it is treated will determine how fast or slow it will age and how it will turn out in the end. Essentially, wine needs to be kept in a clean, dark, damp place with good ventilation, where it can be stored vibration free at a constant temperature.

Wines kept at too high a temperature will age faster than wines kept at a cold temperature. Theoretically, wines kept at 68°F will age twice as fast as those kept at 50°F. At 55°F (12°C) wines will age so slowly with ultimately greater complexity that you will never have to worry about them. This is not to say the colder the better. Wine that is stored too cold can develop deposits or other suspensions in the wine. Finally, keep in mind that white wines are affected far more by temperature problems than red wines.

Different wines should be served at different temperatures. Use the following as a guide.

• Rich, Red and full bodied wines should be served at 59 -68 degrees F
• Light Red should be served at 54 -57 degrees F
• Dry White, Rose and Blush wines should be served at 46- 57 degrees F
• Champagne, and sparkling wines should be served at 43 -47 degrees F

A simple guide is that red wines can be served directly from storage and white wines should be removed from storage to the refrigerator before serving.

HUMIDITY - Moderate humidity is important so as to keep the corks in good resilient condition and thereby preventing them from shrinking. A relative humidity of 50-80% is the acceptable range, but about 70% is recommended. Excessive humidity will not harm the wine but will cause the labels and any other paper products – like cardboard boxes – you have in the cellar to rot. Insufficient humidity may cause the corks to dry out, lose their elasticity and thereby allow air to get into the bottle.

DARKNESS - Light will prematurely age a bottle of wine. Naturally, clear bottles are most susceptible to this problem, but ultraviolet light will penetrate even dark colored glass. Ultraviolet light may give a wine unpleasant aromas and ruin it. Extra care should be given to sparkling wines as they are more sensitive to light than other wines. It should also be noted that incandescent or sodium vapor lights are better for a cellar than fluorescent lighting.

CALM - Constant vibration from machinery or a nearby road disturbs a red wines sediment and can be harmful to all wine. This is not commonly a problem in the average home as dangerous extremes are rare. It should be remembered that excessive sound creates vibrations that may be harmful as well. Wines should be stored in such a way that you dont have to move them around to get at a particular bottle. Once a wine is laid down, it should stay there until it is opened.

CLEANLINESS & VENTILATION - The space should be free from odor and debris. Extraneous smells can enter through the cork and contaminate the wine. Proper ventilation will help with this problem and keep the cellar from giving the wine a musty taste. Debris may attract insects that might infect the corks untreated wood. Never store fruits, vegetables, cheeses or any other food that is capable of fermenting.

ANGLE OF STORAGE - Table wine is stored horizontally so that the wine stays in contact with the cork. This keeps the cork moist, preventing air from entering the wine. Fortified wines other than port, are stored standing. If bottles are stored with the labels up, it will be easier to see the deposit of sediment that forms on the opposite side of the bottle when it comes time to open it.

ULLAGE - Ullage is term used to describe the gap between the cork and the wine in the bottle. There is a term proper ullage which describes the distance that should exist between the cork and the wine. If the humidity level is maintained at 70% RH you will have water diffusion from the outside in thus causing the cork to expand and no wine can escape as the diffusivity of water is greater than wine. The cork lasts longer this way and the wine should not need to be re-corked for a long time to come. If the relative humidity is maintained lower than this 70% the reverse will happen with wine ever so slowly leaking from the bottle and the cork drying out thus allowing oxygen to ever so slowly leak in. Air or more precisely oxygen is a wine destroyer and it causes the oxidation of the esters to organic acid. The most common acid is vinegar which is acetic acid.

If the wine in a bottle is filled to a high level this is generally a sign of a new wine or a very good wine of 5 – 15 years of age. If the wine is below the shoulder of the bottle the wine is probable not drinkable. Depending on the age and type of the wine the level of wine in the bottle will be different however the level should be at least to the upper shoulder on the bottle. This is a pretty good guarantee that the bottle of wine is good.