Do You Store Wine Standing up or Horizontally?

Wine storage is becoming more and more recognised across the wine collecting industry… and for good reason. The interest in keeping wine at an optimum level is at an all-time high.

However, there is still some confusion around the best storage options for your specific wines. All the little fine details that will continue to keep your wine well-rounded are difficult to find the right information for.

Therefore, in this blog, we will run through wine storage in full, how you should store and where you should keep your bottles. Keep reading along to find out more!

 

Where Should You Store Your Wine?

There have been many different conceptions in recent times of where you should physically store your wine for the greatest performance. Should you keep it in a normal refrigerator? Or should you invest in a wine cooler? If I have a huge wine collection, do I need to build a wine cellar?

Well, the best form of storage and the most versatile is a wine fridge - whether this is a freestanding wine cooler, an under-counter wine cooler or a fully integrated wine cooler. Every form of these wine fridges has different abilities, shapes and sizes that will undoubtedly suit your kitchen or storage space.

In contrast to a normal wine fridge, a wine fridge will keep your wine at the most advantageous wine storage temperature and humidity for a stunning wine-tasting experience. Whereas, a normal refrigerator would ultimately be too cold for most wines and the cross-contamination with food may cause unwanted odours.

If you plan to store a large amount of wine for a long time - a wine cellar doesn’t always need to be the answer either. A tall wine fridge (in some cases can have a capacity of up to 300 bottles) - so, this will be just enough for any storage of wine. Not only will it have more smart features and more optimal securities - you won’t have to invest so much money into building an entire room for your wine.

 

What Types of Wine Should be Stored Vertically?

Now that you know exactly where each bottle of wine should be stored - you also need to understand how each bottle should enter a wine fridge. Can you store wine standing up? Well, whether it be white wine, sparkling wine, red wine, etc - there are certain variances between some of these types of wine for how they should be placed.

Sparkling wine can perform well when storing wine upright. Having air pressure like no other, even when stood up can stay carbonated - so when you decide to finally open it, you’ll find that it won’t be flat and essentially ruined. Depending on the wine spectator/ expert you speak to, some will say that all wine should be stored vertically as the bottle will already have the humidity available inside to keep your cork moist.

They believe that if you’re drinking wine within a short period of time, then preserving it standing up will help the wine label be seen - ultimately leading to you seeing it and remembering to drink it. However, damaging factors such as vibrations can still impact your wine (no matter how it is placed), so ensuring that your wine is in a place with few disturbances will be crucial.

 

What Types of Wine Should be Stored Horizontally?

Whether you have a wine cooler or any other form of preservation - most of the time, the racks are set horizontally for each of your wine bottles. Due to the practical and functional space it provides - you will have more room available.

Contrary to some wine experts - there are many other experts that believe heavily in the benefits of horizontal storage. For example, keeping it horizontal will intercept the air from getting in and deteriorating your wine slowly. If you want your wine to age properly and effectively, keeping your wine vertical will, unfortunately, cause premature ageing. This means that the expiry date will arrive a lot sooner than you want.

If you store it vertically, it can potentially pop the cork of your bottle prematurely which may cause your wine to be let out. It will lose its elasticity and resilience over time - causing the cork to dry out or become brittle. Overall, not only will your wine cork be easier to pop off (when stored horizontally) - but it will be excessively efficient in using less space. Therefore, in our opinion - we believe that wine has many more benefits when it comes to preserving it horizontally.

 

Final Thoughts

Depending on the type of wine, each one will have dissimilar quirks and tips that are needed for the perfect preservation. For example, some wines are best to be aged over decades - whereas, some are meant to be drunk within a year of storage. White and sparkling wine is a great example of this as they’re meant to be drunk within a year - rather than more fine red wines that are meant to be kept in deep, optimal storage for decades.

Ensuring that you have a dark environment, no sunlight rays, and great temperature and humidity levels (for the specific wine) while storing it horizontally will give you the best chance of a great-tasting wine experience. If you make sure to follow all of these steps when you’re looking to enjoy a cold beverage on the weekend - you will have no further problems down the line with any gone-off wine.

Depending on how many bottles of wine you want to inherit into your household should decide what capacity wine cooler you look for. For example, if you only want a small collection - there is no point in investing in a tall freestanding wine cooler and vice versa. Totalling up your aspirations and then researching different capacities should decide your wine cooler choice. If you’re interested in looking for a wine cooler for installation within your household or commercial property - explore your options with the award-winning brand, Dunavox!