How To Best Store Your Wine Collection

A couple of the most exciting pleasures of curating a collection of wine are having the most elite methods of storage and choosing a wine that reciprocates well with your tastebuds. You may think just buying the wine you like is enough to keep you satisfied, but if not stored properly - the taste of wine will be hindered.

Good wine storage temperature can be the difference between your wine lasting for decades or even centuries. However, poor storage can lead to great wines deteriorating very quickly. In this blog, we will run you through the best processes in order for you to keep your fine wine at an optimal level for years to come - so keep reading to learn more!

 

How Can You Store Wine at Home?

How do I store my wine? Well, before you understand the tips on how to store your wine collection - you need to be aware of the devices and ways you can physically start to store wine bottles. Here are a few things we recommend you invest in before considering storing your wine in your household:

 

Wine Cooler

Purchasing a wine cooler will not only help store your wine at the correct temperature, but it will also add a hint of luxury to your kitchen (or anywhere where you decide to store it). Wine coolers are specifically built to ensure that wine bottles are kept at an optimal temperature and in peak condition for the ageing process.

Due to the number of options you have with wine coolers, such as freestanding wine coolers, large capacity wine coolers and fully integrated wine coolers - there will be an option best suited for you which makes it easy for installation. Whether you have space under your counter, in the basement or just in your kitchen - there is a wine cooler that will work perfectly in that environment.

This may be an expensive investment, but if you’re looking to generate a healthy collection of wine - having a wine cooler will certainly keep these bottles secure, cool and long-lasting. This means that it may eventually save you money - because if wine is not stored correctly, it won’t last very long before deteriorating, leading to you buying more wine at a quicker rate.

 

Build Your Own Wine Cellar

If you have space, a large amount of money to invest and a vision of the collection you want to conceive - then building your own wine cellar may be a worthwhile investment. Whether you have a full room free in your property to work with, or a garage for that matter would be an exciting project for wine lovers to work with.

Before you begin thinking about getting to work with a wine cellar project, it may be worth consulting and having a conversation with a wine cellar designer to see what it could look like in your household (and the prices of it too).

If your goal is to create a huge collection of wine, a wine cellar may be the best option for you due to wine cellars being able to hold more wine bottles than a regular wine cooler. Factors such as space, money available and property structure will be the deciding component to what will be best suited for you (wine cooler or wine cellar).

 

Tips For Storing Your Wine Collection

Now that you understand what long-term investments and room space you demand - when it comes to wine storage itself, you need to recognise the "must do’s" in the finer details of wine storage. Here are a few tips that will help you in building a sustainable wine collection:

 

Store Wine at the Correct Temperature

We put this at the top of our list as this is possibly the most important factor when it comes to storing wine. When wine is served too hot or even too cold, it will not only spoil the taste of the wine, but will ruin the smell and visual appearance too in your wine glasses.

An ideal wine storage temperature for short or long term storage is around 13ºC, but this can vary depending on what wine you’re purchasing. However, you should never store your wine above 20ºC or below -4ºC. This will cause catastrophic damage to your wine’s ageing process, destroy your wine’s valuable compounds and cause the cork to expand which could begin to crack the glass.

 

Protecting Your Wine Bottles From Light and Vibrations

Whether your wine collection is small or large or you're storing it for only days, weeks or months - you need to keep your wine away from sunlight as much as possible. The aroma and wine’s flavours can be hindered for the worst by direct sunlight - due to the UV rays reacting with the phenolic compounds of your wine.

Vibrations are also another component that can damage the ageing process of your wine collection. Therefore, if you’re thinking of keeping your wine cooler next to a washer or dryer, radio system, etc then this could disturb the sediments in the bottle. This means that there could be residue at the bottom of your wine bottle which wouldn’t be pleasing to a consumer or society as a whole when treating themselves to a glass of wine with some food.

 

Store Your Wine Bottles Horizontally

Especially for those bottles with corks, you need to make sure that you store corked wine on wine racks horizontally. Keeping your wine on its side on racks will help keep your cork damp, which is essential because a dried-out cork can begin a premature ageing process.

It is not always necessary to store a wine bottle horizontally, but storing them on its side will allow for maximum capacity to be reached - whether you have a wine cooler or wine cellar available. These are some of the most useful tips to help you stand out from the rest when storing your wine and giving you the best chance of keeping a great-tasting, sweet-smelling wine to enjoy!