Aging & Storing Wine

Aging Wine, Storing Wine, Cellaring Wine

Wine is a living, breathing substance. In the age of the Coronavirus Pandemic, online wine shipments are soaring. Make sure your wine is safe as you stock your wine cellar. Follow these steps for creating the right environment for storing and aging your wines.

Most everyone can find a functional wine aging area in the house for a case or two of wine. But if you are collecting wine, finding the proper storage area in a home might not be that easy. Following these wine aging and storing tips to protect your wine investment.

Aging wine for two years or less – For most California Wines

Short-term storage is for wine that you plan to drink within a few months of purchase. Some call these wines, everyday drinking wines. The goal of short-term storage is to prevent these wines from going bad while you wait to drink them.

• Avoid high temperatures. Do not store your wine in the kitchen unless you have a wine cooler.
• Try and keep your wine as close to 60 degrees as possible.
• Gradual and slight temperature changes should not have any adverse effects on the wine unless the temperature gets too high.
• Keep wines away from the sunlight, the darker, the better.
• Keep wine resting on its side to prevent the cork from shrinking.
• Avoid places where there are vibrations or shaking.

Aging wine for the long term – For fine wines capable of aging over many years

Long-term aging is for expensive wine that has aging capabilities. Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux style wines are the classic example of wines that will age and improve over time.

For long-term storage: You need constant temperature with little or no fluctuations, the proper humidity plus all the other factors of short-term storage. It is unlikely that a house might have the ideal conditions. If you want long-term storage, you may have to either purchase a wine closet or remodel a space in your home for a permanent wine cellar that is climate controlled.

Wine bottles with screw tops

Most screw top wines are ones that are meant for drinking within one or two years. Most experts contend that without a cork closure the aging process cannot occur. However, you should still put these wines in a correct temperature location with little or no light. Hear what one Napa Valley winemaker thinks about screw caps.