How to properly store wine at home?

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How to properly store wine at home?

Did you just bought the wine that you always wanted? Nice!  But it’s likely that you’re not going to drink it the same day that you made the purchase, instead, you maybe want to save it for a special occasion. Perhaps you have thought about buying even more wines and have a collection, but did you ever wonder where would be a good place to properly store wines at home? the kitchen, the living room or the dining room are perhaps the first places that came into your mind.

Wine must be pampered and cared well, stored in a suitable place. Wine is kind of a “living being” that also evolves within the bottle, it matures, so you have to help it to be at its optimum point, so, when you uncork it, you’ll appreciate to have cared enough.

The easiest and most effective thing would be to have an acclimatized wine cellar at the ideal temperature, but perhaps we haven’t thought about it, we lack space, or both. So there you have some tips.

Tips to properly store wine at home

It is important to know that our wines have a life cycle, even in their bottles, they change over time, evolving and we must do everything possible to make this process run normally. You don’t want to keep the wine in the bottle for longer than it should and neither to have it stored in the wrong place, so when you uncork it, you avoid finding a not so pleasant surprise.

Not all wines are meant be stored for many years. Depending on the type of wine they can last more or less time without opening. That is why we must know that young wines are made to be consumed sooner than those wines that have had a longer time maturing in barrels or on a reserve.

In order to keep our bottles in the best conditions possible, thus when we drink it, we get to taste its peak flavor, we must first know some things:

1. Find a dark place at home:

This is one of the basic rules, you may be tempted to put your bottles where your guests can admire them, but trust us, the best decision will be to keep them as far away as possible from those illuminated places. Not only from sunlight but also from artificial light, especially if you have white wine, in many cases its bottles are clear and radiation may pass through the bottle generating chemical reactions that end up affecting the aromas of our wine or even its color.

2.The humidity: let's keep our corks alive

Between 70% to 90% humidity, especially for bottles with corks. This is an important element and we do not want it to turn it dry, why? As the cork dries it can shrink and allow air leaks, so our wine will begin to oxidize without even being opened it. It also helps if you tilt the bottles a bit, so the wine touches the cork.

Since we need humidity, try to look for a place with good ventilation or that it is at least far from bad odors that can leak into the bottles.

3. Watch out for the temperature

Sudden changes in temperature may affect the wine, so try to keep it at one that is stable. Ideally, wines should be in an environment between about 42 and 64 ° F, try not to exceed this limit since the hotter the wine, the faster it can begin to oxidize.

4.Keep the wine static, without movement or vibrations:

The only place where a wine should dance is on our palate, along with our senses; meanwhile, let's put it in a quiet place with no movement. Vibrations as well as light can accelerate or cause certain chemical processes that affect the way our wines are expressed; their tannins are something that can change if we allow our bottles to be in a place with constant and sudden movements.

5.Ventilation

Just because a wine it’s in a place without light, at a constant and relatively low temperature, does not mean that they are hermetically enclosed. There should be a little ventilation, this way we reduce the possibility of fungi growing, and odors are less likely to contaminate the wine.

How to store sparkling wines?

Sparkling wines are stored in the same way as still wines, the only difference is that they can be stored in an upright position.

Both sparkling wines and white wines should not be stored in the refrigerator, but should be placed in it for about 12 hours before being drunk.

What is the worst place in the house to store wine?

The worst environment in the house to store bottles is definitely the kitchen. The abrupt changes in temperature that occur due to the turning on and off of ovens and burners make it the less ideal place for storing wines.

Another of the least recommended spaces for storing wines is the laundry room, since there is always cleaning products with strong aromas.

What is the best place in the house to store wine?

Room closets are usually good resting places for bottles, since they have little movement and their interior is dark.

It’s important that the spot where the bottles are placed is away from those where the clothes are kept. The mixture of aromas impregnated in fabrics (perfumes, naphthalene, deodorants, among others) can pass through the cork.

In this case, the doors should be opened and closed as little times as possible to avoid annoying noise and vibrations as well as leaks from light and cause the oxidation of the wines stored.

Some ideas to store your wines:

If after having read these tips, you already have a place in mind to store your wines at home; Go ahead right now, but here are some tips that could help you:

Do you have an unoccupied wardrobe? If the answer is yes, you can get a bar-type shelf where you can put those bottles with cork lying down and those that don't, standing upright to take advantage of the space; remember, that their stability is very important.

As you may have already deduced, the easiest way to recreate good conservation conditions is to get a wine refrigerator or wine cellar. These appliances allow us to keep our bottles always horizontally, at a stable temperature and even within the required humidity parameters. In addition, many of them have an air renewal system.

Recommended? yes, Necessary? no. If you do not usually store many wines or you simply do not have space or resources for a wine cellar, it is important then that you try to follow our recommendations. You’ll notice how your bottles are kept in good conditions, allowing you to enjoy the wine without worries.

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  • Fabianni Posteraro