Your Wine Shop On The Canal

Rules and Guidelines

Lay the Wine Down
Store the wine horizontally so that the wine is always in contact with the cork.
Very importantly, the cork needs to be kept wet. If the cork dries out, the wine will be exposed to and damaged by oxygen.

Temperature
The ideal temperature to store wine is between 55 degrees and 58 degrees Fahrenheit. However, any temperature between 40 degrees and 65 degrees Fahrenheit will suffice as long as it remains constant. Consistency is key. The most important rule when storing wine is to avoid large temperature changes or fluctuations. Great fluctuations in temperature can damage the cork, pushing minute quantities of wine out of the bottle, and letting air seep in. At a correct and consistent temperature, the wine will age properly, enabling it to fully develop to its full potential.

Humidity
The ideal humidity for your cellar is 70%, however anywhere between 50%-80% is acceptable. An overly dry atmosphere is dangerous to the cork seal. In an extremely dry environment, a cork can shrink, allowing air into the bottle, oxidizing and destroying the wine. Moderate humidity is important to keep the cork in good resilient condition and prevent it from shrinking. Excessive humidity will not harm the wine, but it will cause the labels to get moldy.

Darkness
Exposure to light can prematurely age a bottle of wine. Ultraviolet light will damage a wine by causing degradation of otherwise stable organic compounds, causing unfavorable and irreversible changes in the wine. Clear glass bottles are most susceptible to this problem, but wine in dark glass can be damaged as well. Wine must be stored in a relatively dark environment. Fluorescent lights give off significant amounts of ultraviolet light; incandescent or sodium vapor lights are better for a cellar.

Calm
Wine should be stored in a calm and consistent environment. Vibration agitates the bottle and negatively speeds up the chemical reactions taking place inside the bottle.

Cleanliness
Your cellar or storage area should be clean and free from any smells, foodstuffs or other items. Strong outside smells can find their way through the cork and contaminate the wine. Do not store wine with other food. Keep the area clean and dedicated to wine.

Which Wines to Cellar?

Not all wines improve with age
Only a relatively small proportion of all the wine made in the world every year is worth keeping for any length of time.

Generally, the wine, that age the best are
:
Fuller-bodied reds

Vintage ports and other fortified wines

Rich sweet wine, that are intended for keeping
(such as French Sauternes and Alsatian and German late-harvest wines)

A few dry white wines (such as the best French Chablis and white Burgundy)

As with many things involving wine, there are, of course exceptions. Every wine producing country may have an anomaly of a wine that ages unusually long. For example, unoaked Semillon from the Hunter Valley of Australia ages beautifully.