We all love wine. That is why the community is growing so fast in the country. Apart from the health benefits wine possesses, it is a drink that you can have with your favorite foods without any struggle. We try as much as possible to ensure that you are not drinking on an empty stomach. Buying a bottle or two each time you want to enjoy your favorite wine could be tiresome. Storing wine could also be challenging since most people do not have the resources to do it the recommended way.
However, there are simple traditional methods you can use to store a number of bottles of your favorite wine. When you are entertaining guests or just need to have the proverbial glass a day, you won’t need to leave your home. No, you do not need a house with a basement either. Here are some of the ways you can store your wine without having it go bad.
Keep it away from the light.
You’re not keeping your wine in the fridge, are you? You know light is the enemy. It ages it prematurely, literally. And it messes up the cork and dries out, which lets air in and also ages your wine prematurely. Pretty much everything that you do to your wine that isn’t pouring yourself a glass will ruin the taste of the liquid. So pour yourself a glass then try to figure out where you’re going to store your bottle of vino away from light and at an optimal temperature of 10-15 Celsius.
Don’t store your wine in the refrigerator.
Unless you own a wine fridge, the refrigerator isn’t the best place to store your wine. Refrigerators tend to be too cold and too damp for storing most wines. If you serve your wine at room temperature, you may have chilled it in the fridge before serving it. While this is fine when consuming wine, chilling a bottle before storing it is not good long-term practice because of how much (potentially damaging) condensation can occur inside the bottle.
Store wine on its side to keep the cork moist.
The best place to store a wine bottle is lying on its side so that the cork stays moist. Wine bottles typically aren’t sealed with metal caps like, say, beer. Instead, they are stoppers with corks—made from the bark of an oak tree in most cases—that need to be kept moist or else they will dry out and shrink. Allowing air to leak into the bottle and oxidize the wine inside it. If you only drink once in a while or occasionally entertain guests, there shouldn’t be a problem keeping your wine bottles horizontal. But if you have lots of bottles around for any period of time, keep tabs on how wet those corks stay because if they become too wet they can start to rot and bacterial growth could occur.
Avoid extreme temperatures.
Wine likes a consistent temperature. It doesn’t like being hot and it doesn’t like being cold, so avoid placing your wine near heat sources or in a garage/shed. Having said that, don’t store your bottles in the refrigerator either. A cellar is often the best place for long-term storage because it’s generally cool and dark, but anywhere other than those places should be fine for short-term or medium-term consumption.
Your aim is to keep your bottles at an even room temperature between 9 and 13 degrees Celsius.
Think about humidity when storing wine.
The amount of moisture in the environment can affect wine bottles sealed with a cork. In humid conditions, mold can grow inside the bottle and break down the cork, affecting its taste. In dry conditions, the cork may shrink and leak the wine out.
If you live in a humid climate, be sure to store wine bottles standing up, so mold doesn’t grow on the cork. Don’t store wines in a fridge for long periods.
Don’t shake the bottle.
Shaking the bottle before you open it will cause the wine to oxidize faster, which is bad. If you’re looking for a way to feel distinguished, just take a deep breath and swirl your glass of wine instead”
Avoid vibrations where you store your wine.
When we’re talking about vibrating wine, we’re not referring to a flirty, slightly tipsy sing along with your boo. Vibrations can damage a bottle of wine by causing it to age faster than it should. If you have to store your bottle in an environment with vibrations (like traffic or near the fridge and dishwasher), then use an old wine bottle filled with water as a stopper. The liquid will absorb the vibration and prevent it from affecting the quality of your vino.
Without light and heat, a wine will last longer than you’d expect.
- Without light and heat, a wine will last longer than you’d expect.
- Red wine will likely not last more than a few years, even when stored perfectly, while white wines can age for up to five years.
The best way to store wine is on its side and away from direct sunlight—which means one thing: Your cabinet is probably not the best place for your stash because light can reach through the gaps between most doors and glass allows ultraviolet light through. That isn’t to mention how hot it can get above your stove or inside cabinets where you keep pots and pans
