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Let’s imagine for a moment…
You bought a bottle of wine. You liked it so much that you decided to keep it for a while – wait for the drink’s “heyday” and enjoy an even more wonderful taste.
I will tell you in detail in this article how to create favorable conditions for its storage and provide the wine with the most favorable conditions for maturation.
Wine is constantly opening up
By the way, the maturation of wine in a bottle can be compared to the ripening of bunches of grapes on the vine.
Thus, slow ripening allows the grapes to obtain many microelements from the soil and supplement their main fruity notes with them (for example, let’s take the famous region of the Loire Valley – Sancerre, where Sauvignon Blanc grows on limestone and quartz, or siliceous, soils and absorbs the so-called minerality).
Also in wine, when stored correctly, the aromatic components interact harmoniously with each other and turn into interesting tertiary aromas (for example, tobacco, forest floor and dried fruits and herbs), which amazingly complement the bouquet of wine.
What should you pay attention to when you decide to store wine?
Constant temperature. Preferably around 11-14°C, without sudden temperature changes, which can harm the wine even more than a temperature slightly warmer than the ideal. This is a very important rule, so let it top our list of necessary storage conditions.
When wine or grapes ripen too quickly due to high temperatures, a number of problems arise:
Firstly, the vine does not have time to absorb mineral substances and transform them into aromatic components in the berries.
Secondly, as a result of chemical processes accelerated by high temperatures in the berries themselves, new aromatic components will not be able to form, and fresh fruits in the aroma will turn into jammy notes.
So, rapid ripening of both grapes and wine can cost the drink its balance and complexity.
Optimal air humidity. Ideally, it should be between 60% and 70%.
If the air in the cellar is too dry, the corks may begin to dry out, shrink, and lose their natural elasticity. This will allow more air into the bottle, which will speed up the maturation of the wine and may even contribute to its gradual oxidation. The result will be an unpleasant cocktail of berry jam, mushrooms, and sometimes caramel (for red wines), or baked apples and pears, nuts, and wax (for white wines).
It’s one thing when such shades don’t spoil the wine at all, but on the contrary, add originality to the bouquet. Another thing is when they become its main part, hiding fresh notes (if any remain), the wine becomes unsuitable for consumption, or at least will not bring any pleasure.
Too high humidity may not harm the wine itself (or, in any case, will not affect it very soon), but the labels will suffer from it.
Absence of direct sunlight. Ideally, of course, wines should be stored in complete darkness.
Ultraviolet rays can not only heat the wine, but also cause chemical reactions in it. They can lead to the formation of suspension and precipitation of unstable copper, not to mention irreversible changes in the characteristics of the wine (give it the so-called “light defect” or “flavor of light”).
Absence of vibrations. Even small but constant vibrations disrupt the process of wine maturation and polymerization of tannins, and also shake up the natural sediment that forms in the wine over the years. Vibrations contribute to the destruction of aromatic molecules, and therefore – to a change in the characteristics of the wine.
Constant ventilation of the room. Unpleasant odors and dampness can penetrate into wines over time.
Horizontal position of bottles. The cork must be constantly moistened by contact with the wine and thus maintain its elasticity.
The exception is sparkling wines, the gas inside which will exert excessive pressure on the cork, fortified wines such as sherry, port, Madeira, French Vins Doux Naturels, and spirits, since their high alcohol content can react with the cork and extract unpleasant bitterness, woody tones in a bad sense, and even a cork defect.
Ideal places for storing wine
All these principles of ideal wine storage can be combined only in real underground cellars (especially in former limestone quarries – some châteaux, for example, Saint-Emilion, are especially proud of them, if such quarries are on their territory) or in special wine cabinets designed specifically for wine maturation. In addition to a constant ideal temperature, such cabinets maintain an optimal level of humidity, have opaque doors and protect wines from light.
But if you don’t plan to invest in a grand cru of exceptional vintage and store wines for years and decades, it will be enough to ensure that the place where the wines are stored is free of:
• sudden temperature changes (smooth seasonal changes are allowed, they will not cause much harm to the wine)
• excessive dryness
• direct sunlight and strong vibrations.
Even in an regular apartment you can easily find such a place, but for obvious reasons you should still avoid the kitchen.
Will the refrigerator do?
We should also mention the effect of low temperatures on storing wine. Surely there were cases when you kept a bottle of white or sparkling wine in the refrigerator in case of uninvited guests or an unexpected party (this also happens). 
Although the low temperatures of the refrigerator are much less likely to spoil the wine than the heat in a heated room. On the contrary, its development will slow down. Nevertheless, an ordinary refrigerator cannot replace a good wine cabinet, for several reasons:
- There are still some vibrations in the refrigerator due to the cooling mechanism turning on and off.
- The smells in the refrigerator can be anything, but not neutral.
- In some refrigerators, high humidity may be observed.
In white wines, tartaric acid crystals may also appear at the bottom of the bottle. They are completely safe and appear in the process of natural crystallization at a temperature of about +4 C °. Some wineries cool the wine before bottling to filter out these crystals and avoid their appearance in front of the consumer. This observation can be considered a disadvantage, since tartaric acid crystals can still appear when white wine is cooled before drinking.
If you follow all of these simple rules, you can easily buy your favorite wine for several years in advance.
Try and experiment!
