How to store wine at home
From wine enthusiasts, to true experts, to those who drink wine in the company of others... but how many of you really know how to store wine at home or in a flat?
Having a wine cellar in your home to store your wines, make them precious and refine them, is the dream of every connoisseur, but you don't always have the underground rooms to dedicate to this purpose.
In this case, one is forced to keep the wines at home, perhaps in the closet or in a corner of the house that is closest to the conditions found in a typical cellar and which are ideal for ageing wine.
What do I need to know in order to store my bottles properly and avoid storage problems?
The first element to take into account when choosing the room to be used is the temperature. The best wine cellars have a temperature that remains stable at around 15 or at most 18 degrees. The space to be chosen must be dark, or at least not very bright, with a maximum humidity of around 70%.
The ideal solution would be to choose a room in which to install an air conditioner that also has the function of a humidifier in order to control both temperature and humidity. In any case, the wine must not be assailed by strong odours such as shoes, detergents and cold meats, because the cork of the stopper is able to absorb them and transmit them to the wine, which, as we know, has a high capacity to absorb the aromas of the surrounding environment. Precisely for this reason, if you decide to use the room in your house as a wine cellar, it is important to dedicate it only to wines and not to the cold cuts larder or to use it as a storage room.
A fundamental aspect is to store the bottles in a horizontal position, this is because it is good that the wine is always in contact with the cork and keep it moist, in fact, if the cork remains moist at all times it will not allow air to enter the bottle, and therefore you will avoid the formation of mould and fungus on the cork that can ruin the characteristics of the product. It is important to place wine bottles that are more sensitive to temperature changes at the bottom, closer to the floor, as heat tends to rise to the top, so the lowest shelves will always be the coolest.
The wine cellar fridge, the solution for everyone
For those who do not have the possibility of dedicating a room to their wines, the solution remains the purchase of a wine cooler suitable for wine storage.
There are wine cellars of various prices on the market which can also be used in the living room or as a furnishing accessory and which, thanks to thermostats, internal humidifiers and hermetically sealed doors, are able to store all types of wine in the best possible way.
The ideal way of storing all types of wine would be to purchase a wine cellar with two zones where different temperatures can be programmed. Normally, white wines, sparkling wines and rosé wines should be stored in the lower part of the cellar at a temperature that varies between 5 and 9 °C, while the upper part, for red wines, should be between 15 and 18 °C.
Cheers!