Storing Wine at Home

To store wine one must first consider what kind of wine is going into storage. Is the kind that will be consumed immediately or before six months? Will it last for over six months? Or has it already been opened but re-corked and stored again? There are certain techniques that go into storing wine at home, which you must keep in mind before starting out on a wine collection. Being a wine drinker and lover myself, starting out on something like this would be the ultimate dream come true. I hope that you do get a move on this plan, and have yourself an A grade wine storage up and running.

Things to Consider Before Storing Wine

There's a criterion when it comes to storing wine, where you'll need to find your purpose first when it comes to your wine.

Immediate Use
If you plan on having the wine you've bought, within six months or gradually over a couple of days or weeks, keeping these wines in the closet, in say a box would do fine. This ensures that the wine is at a good temperature to keep the cork moist and eliminate the chances of evaporation. It is also good to keep these in a closet, which is movement free and not in the presence of items that give off any strong smells. Keeping these in the fridge isn't advisable, since the compressor will keep the refrigerator in constant vibration mode, and the lights in it, can give off heat and excess light. Also, to keep it close to perishable items like vegetables and fruits isn't good, or cheese for that matter.

Keeping it for Later Use
Like the previous kind of wine, these too have to be kept in good conditions, with temperatures ranging between 50 and 55°F, with humidity levels stabled at 70% or more. It keeps the corks moist, and doesn't leave room for evaporation. Mold growth is inevitable due to the presence of moisture in the air, including the peeling off labels from the bottle. The lower the wine cellar temperature, the slower wine takes to age; keeping it at a constant temperature is key, that will aid in the aging process. UV rays aren't supposed to penetrate wine bottles or be present anywhere close to them, which can lead otherwise to what is called 'light struck', where wines then turn from good to nasty, smelling like damp cardboard when exposed to sunlight. Even normal fluorescent light can turn sparkling wine that's been exposed to it, into something quite unpleasant.

How to Store Wine at Home

There are three optional ways in which wine collectors can store their batches of wine both effectively and in the right manner. Depending on what resources are available to you, you can get started on your wine storage means.

Closet Wine Cellar
If you're wondering where to store wine at home, then turning your closet into a wine cellar seems like a smart way of turning an area of no real use, into something that would do you well as a wine storage option. It's a tedious task to turn it into a wine cellar, but worth the trouble in the end. When making these, you have to make sure you cement the walls of your cellar, as a gluing agent to hold up foam boards against the walls. Weather stripping needs to then be attached to the main entry door, to trap in coolness and eliminate heat from entering the room. Cellars have to be kept cool, with devices available to do just that. Also, doors have to be heavy-duty steel ones, to aid insulation. Weather strips can be glued down to this as well, for more effect.

Wine Cellars
If you already have a pre-constructed wine cellar, then kudos, you've just started out on your collection and acted out in advance for your love of wine. This is by far the best way to store wine at home, where a closet cellar would do well, second in line. You can put up wine racks in a systematic order, and arrange bottles either alphabetically or chronologically depending on what suits you best when you want to find what you're looking for. Make sure that the atmosphere and setting is ideal for wine collecting, since any glitch in the plan, could have you losing big bucks on your wine collection.

• Use incandescent lights in your cellar, and avoid the presence of strong harsh lights, or sunlight.
• Wines have to be completely still in a wine rack, without so much as a tremor passing through them. So when reaching out for wine bottles, make sure you widely space them out, or in orderly rows, so that you don't disturb their stationary positions.
• Depending on what type of wine it is, the amount of time for storage will differ. Like say for red wines, the time frame can range from 2 to 10 years, depending on its content. Some white wines can age for up to 20 years, with some holding in a shelf life of hardly 2-3 years. Therefore when buying wines, make sure you know its contents in detail and have store owners or wine collectors give you their advice on storage and life span of wine.
• Temperatures should remain constant, and shouldn't elevate beyond 3°F a day and 5°F in a year. For specifics on how to store certain wines, go by these figures - Rose / dry / blush white wine (46 to 57°F), light red wine (55°F), champagne / sparkling wines (43 to 47°F) and deep red wines (59 to 66°F).
• Wines shouldn't be stored in an upright position, but label side up, to avoid air from seeping into the wine, spoiling it over time this way.

Wine Refrigerator/Cooler
Due to the temperature being set at a desirable degree, the wines are ensured proper exposure for aging, although opening and closing the doors will cause movement, hampering its process. Depending again on the wines stored, the temperatures will differ in a wine refrigerator.

Knowing the dynamics that go into storing wine at home is key when starting up a collection of your own, which is an undertaking that needs a lot of thought put into it. With these above help guidelines on knowing how to go about it, I hope that you have a stocked up storage system of the best aged wines. Cheers!

"Life is too short to drink bad wine." - Anonymous