Storage of wine for a casual consumer
Wine is a perishable liquid, just like food it oxidates and gets spoilt, unless stored properly by the time you get around to opening the bottle it is most likely to turn into vinegar, and that is quite upsetting if the bottle is of good expensive wine gifted by a friend.
How to store
The wine is decomposed into vinegar by the following elements
1) Heat
2) Light
3) Oxygen
4) Low humidity
5) Vibration
The perfect place to store it is in a cool temperature, in a dark damp place, that is why cellars are usually the ideal place for storing the stock of wine. Unless such a place is found for keeping your stock of wine, we should be ready for the wine to turn sour and bad by the time we have it.
There are two types of consumers, and their needs of storage of wine is also drastically different. One is the casual consumer, who will need to store a bottle for a maximum of around 7-8 months, but if you are a wine investor, investing in expensive wine and plan on keeping it for quite some time, then you needs are going to be dramatically different from a casual wine rack.
Do we keep the bottle on its side
The biggest problem with storing of wine is oxygen, just like other foodstuffs, wine is perishable and subject to oxidation. The bottles are usually sealed with a cork which is sot and pliable and can expand or contract, but if the bottle is keep upright, the cork will not be moist anymore and the pliability of the cork will be replaced by a dry wooden piece which will not hold the bottle neck quite at correctly allowing the atmospheric air to touch the wine and thus spoiling it.
Thus an ideal position to store that bottle is on its side, for a longer storage period, we need to see that the environment is controlled and humid at all times so that the cork does not dry out.
Casual storing
The casual drinker will be the one which will store its stock no more than an year, if a bottle is not stored for more than an year, then it can be stored quite easily, all we need to do is keep them at a dark place away from sunlight in cool temperature and if possible on their side. A wine rack is ideal for this.
Filed under: Beginners Guide
