Storing Fine Wine: Top Tips

Fine wine storage is crucial. Not only do fine wines get better with age, but they also improve in both flavour and aroma. Fine wine is usually a type of wine that's been made by highly regarded vintners within the industry, made with detail and attentiveness.

Regardless of the type of wine you have, finding the right storage is incredibly important. Whether it’s rosé wine, Champagne, red, white or sparkling prosecco, keeping them stored correctly will have an extensive list of benefits on the overall flavour. As time advances, we take care of our own wine collections. Historically, wine was often handled by a wine merchant - someone who keeps the designated area your wine is stored at the right temperature.

Whether it’s a home-based cellar or a modern Dunavox wine cooler, it’s easier than ever to store your bottles thanks to ever-evolving technology. Being experts in providing ways to store fine wine, we’ve compiled a few top tips to use when you’re looking for ways to store fine wine. Continue reading to find out more information.

 

How to Store Fine Wine

Once you know how to store fine wine, it’ll be easier than ever to accommodate your collections. Oxygen is one of the main things that can be detrimental to wine, which is why it’s so important to make sure your bottles are stored correctly.

Along with oxygen, there are also a number of factors to take into consideration when it comes to storing your wine efficiently. Humidity, temperature and light exposure are all things that need to be observed during the storage process. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why humidity, temperature and light exposure can affect your wine.

 

Humidity

Humidity is something that needs to be regulated during wine storage. Without good humidity, the quality of fine wine could be affected massively - this is because humidity can cause mould to grow when it gets higher than 70%. The recommended humidity to keep your wine in is anywhere between 60% to 70%. Although low levels of humidity work just as well as a higher percentage, keeping your wine in a constant low humidity could be detrimental to your wine in the long run ad damage bottle labels.

In the worst-case scenario, incorrect humidity levels could lead to the bottle corks drying out. Dried-out corks mean oxygen could potentially seep inside the bottle and cause spoilage. If you’re storing fine wine, you want the labels on your bottles to be seen clearly - with bad humidity, the glue could thin and the appearance of your wine could be ruined. This is why most modern wine storage units feature humidity regulation.

 

Temperature

Fluctuation in temperature can be really detrimental to wine. By keeping your wine stored at a specific temperature, you’re allowing it to thrive and age accordingly. A change in temperature can really damage your wine. Having a consistent temperature is key when it comes to storing wine - this is why owning a wine cooler or built-in home cellar is extremely beneficial. Whether you’re storing red wine, white wine, Champagne, prosecco or rosé, knowing what temperature to keep it at is crucial.

Strong notes, flavours and aromas in wine are able to accentuate when it’s being stored at the right temperature. Storing your wine in an environment where it’s over 15 degrees Celcius can disrupt the ageing process massively by tampering with delicate compounds. If you’re storing your wine in a regular household fridge, you’re more likely to be opening and closing the door compared to if you were to have a wine fridge - this causes the wine to struggle when it comes to staying at a consistent temperature.

 

Position

Yes, the position of your wine bottles really does matter. If you have cases of wine ready to be integrated into your collection, it could be worth learning a little bit more about how you should be positioning them. Regardless of whether it’s shop-bought or vintage, keeping your bottle in a certain position can help better the taste of your wine.

A sparkling sweet wine such as prosecco tends to age better when they’re kept upright - this is because the pressure that’s caused by the high amount of trapped carbonic gas protects the wine from oxygen. A good bottle of Champagne or prosecco should be ready to drink as soon as it’s bought, requiring little to no storage time.

A classic red such as a Bordeaux should be stored at a slight angle because of how still it is. Bottles are usually kept completely horizontal, which can actually bring leftover tannins at the bottom of the bottle to the top surface. If you’re wondering why still wines can’t be left to stand upright, it’s because the cork still needs to have some contact with the wine in order to keep it moist and keep it protected from oxygen. By keeping the cork in contact with the wine, a more gradual, safer maturation process can occur.

 

Light

Light can be a huge factor when it comes to storing wine. Having harsh light on your wine could cause the phenolic compounds to react, which could ruin the overall taste of your wine altogether. Lighter-bodied wine has the most effect from sunlight exposure, which is why we see Champagne and prosecco being sold in tinted glass bottles.

At Dunavox, our range of wine coolers has a range of key features. We believe in providing the best, top-of-the-range coolers to our customers, which is why our products are so advanced compared to other big-name brands. Our wine coolers come with sturdy glass doors that are UV-protected, which means you’ll be able to store your cooler wherever you like, regardless of how much light the space endures. ‘Light strike’ is known as being a fast killer of wine - this is why our manufacturers take so much time carefully designing our coolers to make sure they are the best on the market.

 

Best Place to Store Fine Wine

Where you store your wine all comes down to what type of wine it is. Red wine doesn’t need to be chilled, so keeping it away from sunlight in a cellar or an environment that’s room temperature should allow it to age correctly. With white wine, you’ll need to keep it stored at a specific temperature of around seven to 10 degrees Celcius, which is the climate most wine coolers have.

Dunavox offers a wide range of wine coolers. Whether it’s integrated, under-counter, freestanding or a large capacity cooler to house big collections, we have something to suit everyone's needs when it comes to fine wine storage. The service we provide is the best in the industry, with quick delivery and our team members being on hand to answer queries from our loyal customers all day long, there’s no wonder we’ve maintained such a good reputation.