Wine Storage Solutions and Tips

By Summer Wilde

An oenophile is a person who loves to discuss and to drink wine. Wine is a truly remarkable beverage, which came into being because of the ubiquity of yeast in the environment. When yeast lands in grape juice or any other sweet liquid, it interacts with the sugars present to produce fermentation.

Back in the ancient world someone discovered that if he put yeast into grape juice he turned it into an entirely new drink. What he may or may not have understood is that yeast causes the grape juice to ferment which changes all the sugar in the juice into alcohol. He shared his drink with others who agreed that he had come up with something pretty good. That is when ancient peoples began intentionally making juice into wine.

At that time, wine storage solutions weren't much of an issue. The choices were just crocks and ewers and with little way to control temperature or humidity, it was never certain that anything kept for long would be anything but vinegar when opened. Eventually, caves and cellars were found to be good conditions for wine to reach its peak and the first wine cellars came to be.

Modern wine lovers have learned that wine needs different conditions depending on whether it is developing or being stored. These days, wine lovers also know that wine storage solutions have to meet a variety of different situations. Open wine racks can provide the proper type of wine storage for modest wines in a home, as long as the home is kept at a reasonable temperature and humidity.

Other more exacting wine lovers may want more precise conditions and opt to purchase and use wine storage coolers to protect the wine at its best possible quality. These can be tiny one bottle sizes to chill a bottle for individual use, or room sized refrigerated chambers or anything in between. What is being stored and the tastes and budget of the household will have a lot to do with which wine storage solutions are chosen.

If wine is to remain at it's peak flavor or to reach it through careful aging, it is fussy. Wine has a very narrow temperature array ranging from 40 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit with as little variation as can be. Temperature variations should occur as infrequently as possible. Under one time per year is recommended, and humidity should be kept at more than fifty per cent as well. A cooler should be free from light or out of direct sunlight that is harmful to wines.

The preferred method for wine storage is that the bottles be lying on their sides horizontally. An angle up to 45 degrees will work, but angles less than 25 degrees are much better. You can use a cooler to stack loose bottles if you like; however, this arrangement makes it difficult to get to bottles in the bottom rows of the stack. Therefore, wine racks work better. When buying a wine rack, make sure it has spaces for wine bottles that are different shapes and sizes. If the rack is going to be on display, you should buy an attractive unit.