Storing Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. I am often asked; where is the best place to store wine if you don’t have a wine cellar? Today we discuss possible alternatives to the wine cellar.

There are a few important things to keep in mind when you consider storing wine. Finding a place that is dark, cool and has just a little bit of humidity is your best bet. That’s why a basement or underground cellar is such a nice spot. Variation in temperature can harm your wine, so the environment should be as constant in temperature as possible. Ideally it should also be free of any vibrations or movement. Store the bottles horizontally and the cases on their sides. This will ensure the corks remain moist and fully expanded to keep out air. Very often there may be a closet or a Pantry in the middle of the house; a room or closet with no exterior walls. This could be a good place to store wine for shorter periods of time, say a few months rather than a few years. If you have no basement but your house has a crawl space you may consider cutting a vent into the floor of a large closet. This allows the naturally cool air from under the house to keep the room cool. But one thing I really want to encourage you to avoid, is storing wine in the refrigerator for long periods of time. The refrigerator draws moisture from the cork and the possibility of it going bad is dramatically increased. Basically, look for a dark space where the temperature stays between 40 and 65 degrees and the humidity is low. But once you start collecting a potable wine storage closet is something you start saving for. And thanks for joining me on Vine to Wine.