Wine is a beverage that has accompanied human life for thousands of years, and over the past centuries it has evolved so much from a production and quality point of view. But while vinifying a quality product is a very hard work, preserving it intact, in the hope that it will not be altered, is not easy.
The problem is that if the wine is not stored properly, it can undergo such transformations that its quality is altered in a short time, until it is completely ruined.
But the more the consumer proves to be a true wine lover, the more he or she will commit to following simple rules that will lead to magnificent results.
The winery is the ideal place to house the resting wine and is designed to have all the necessary features to protect it as best as possible.
They are usually made underground and possibly facing northeast in order to avoid sudden changes in temperature, which should remain between 9 and 12 degrees for white wines and between 13 and 15 degrees for the red ones. A temperature change would cause the wine a reaul trauma: if the temperature rises too high, it could accelerate acid oxidation, evaporate alcohol or even reactivate fermentation. Too low a temperature, on the other hand, could slow aging down to a complete halt or could cause precipitation of some of the wine’s components, resulting in sediment inside the bottle.
Winery are always equipped with humidifiers that maintain a humidity level between 60 and 80% so that corks do not dry too much, even to the point of drying out and creating cracks that can allow too much air to pass through, thus risking compromising the integrity of the product.
In this regard, the bottles are also stretched horizontally or slightly tilted so that the cork remains hydrated at all times by the wine placed inside, maintaining that elasticity that ensures tightness and watertightness. Of course, this expedient will be entirely superfluous in case the cork used is made of synthetic or aluminum (screw) material.
Vibrations can also be harmful as potential causes of the breakdown of some elements of the wine, but also for simply deteriorating a weak cork seal, which is why shelves used for bottles are preferred to be made of wood, which is an excellent vibro-absorbent.
Light, both natural and artificial, can be responsible for accelerating the maturation process, causing the initiation of oxidative processes, therefore, except for the minimum necessary to move inside, it is advisable to keep the rooms dark. Wine is in fact photosensitive, which means that some light sources can alter its organoleptic balance and speed up its decay, negatively affecting especially the olfactory profile.
The phenomenon is evident and easily testable, especially in white and rosé wines, which, precisely because of their transparency, are subjected more than “reds” to being traversed by light and harmful radiation. Clear bottles of transparent glass, do not protect against light radiation and cause that phenomenon called “light taste” due to the photochemical sensitivity of vitamin B2 contained in wine. Therefore, if it is not possible to store them in a dark environment, the only alternative would be to place them in carton boxes.
It is important that the environment is continuously ventilated in order to prevent the formation of mold or fungus and also cleaned and sanitized regularly in order to avoid any kind of organic and/or inorganic contamination.
Even odors from the surrounding environment, often underestimated or not considered, represent a real threat to the correct preservation of wine, as they are regularly absorbed during the whole aging period and punctually returned during the tasting. Having said that, it is absolutely inadvisable to store one’s bottles in places such as kitchens, pantries and garages.
It is also necessary not to expect too much from one’s wine: each grape variety, each label, has a life expectancy that at the gustatory level includes an initial phase of immaturity, which with time will improve reaching the maximum expression of its organoleptic qualities, and then begin a period of decline that will lead it to old age and undrinkability. It is therefore important to try to document what the “best time” in the evolution of that particular wine might be, in order to taste it during the maximum manifestation of its potential, avoiding the risk that it will get worse.
Those who do not have the space or money to build a winery can always rely on technology and get one that is electric, adjustable, which has the right humidity and has shelves with different temperatures, capable of perfectly storing every type of wine.
To conclude and summarize what has been said so far, it is necessary to store bottles in cool, dark rooms without temperature changes, well ventilated, properly humidified and away from noise, smells and vibrations. Having said that, it is normal that very few people will have a space at home and with these characteristics to devote to the storage of their wine bottles, but if the recommendations we have talked about are followed even partially, I am sure you will have great satisfaction.