As the saying goes, “good red wine improves with age”. However, if a wine is abused during storage, its aromas can quickly turn sour. Here, we present the various mistakes to avoid when storing wine.

Avoid environments that are too cold or too hot

Whatever its nature, a wine is generally enjoyed between 7 and 18 degrees.

Keeping a wine in a cool environment (such as a fridge or outside in winter) is a bad idea, as it freezes the wine’s aromas and prevents it from expressing all its flavors when tasted. On the other hand, wine stored in the fridge does not benefit from the humidity of a cellar, which dries out the cork and allows air to penetrate the bottle, oxidizing the wine.

On the other hand, storing wine in too warm an environment makes it far too alcoholic, making it very unpleasant to drink. Many people place it on the kitchen worktop while preparing food. However, this is definitely the hottest spot in the house! It’s best to leave it in the cellar or in a cooler room until you’re ready to eat.

Avoid sunlight

Watch out for windows in the cellar! The sun’s UV rays prematurely age wine, and even more so when the glass is transparent (especially for white wines). Too much light will give the wine a “light taste”, an unprecedented aromatic deviation.

A cellar should therefore be as dark as possible. Lighting should be low-intensity and neon should be avoided. Some white wine producers even wrap their wines in tissue paper to protect them from light.

Ensure proper humidity

At all costs, avoid storing wine in too dry an environment. A common mistake is to focus on temperature without paying attention to humidity. In the absence of sufficient humidity, i.e. below 70%, the cork dries out and the wine evaporates, causing premature oxidation. This phenomenon is aggravated if the temperature is too high.

We therefore recommend using a hygrometer to measure the humidity level in the cellar. A trick to increase it if it’s too low is to water the cellar floor. Too much humidity is not harmful to wine, but it can damage labels.

A few general tips

Now it’s time for a little advice!

When storing your wine in a cellar, it is advisable to arrange it horizontally rather than vertically. Keeping the bottle elongated ensures that the cork is in contact with the wine and does not dry out, allowing air into the bottle.

If you’re going to keep a wine, you might as well keep it in a magnum: the larger the bottle, the better the wine keeps. This is even truer for champagne, whose bubbles become more lively with age.

Ideally, red wine bottles should be positioned above white wines and champagnes, as they require a little less cooling, and the heat always takes refuge towards the top of the room.

Photo: Dan-Cristian Pădureț / Unsplash