Learning About Storing Wine
If you have learned how to enjoy wine, you may start to enjoy collecting good wines to have a wine available when you want it, and this is going to mean learning about storing wine.
Wine is made from a variety of grapes that are then fermented into an alcoholic beverage. Of course there is a whole lot more to wine making than that, but it's the basics. Wine is then stored into a long necked bottle to keep oxygen from entering the wine and changing the taste or smell. Another reason wine is often stored in long dark colored bottles is to keep light from changing the chemical balance of the wine. Your careful storage of wine will preserve the flavor of the wine.
Humidity will play an important rule concerning wine; the cork that is used to seal the wine will be affected by the humidity. If it is too dry in your wine storage area the wine cork can shrink allowing air to come in contact with the wine possibly changing the chemical balance of the wine which can effect the color and taste of the wine. Most wine collectors will store their wine in an area with 50-80% humidity. This is to make sure a broken seal or cork doesn't breach the wine's integrity.
The reason wine is stored in dark bottles is because light, as well as the ultraviolet light of sunlight can cause wine to age more rapidly. It's important to realize that just because a wine bottle is dark doesn't mean it's totally protected against light, hence the reason most collectors store their wine in a dark closet or wine cellar.
Many wine collectors will also store their bottles of wine at a downward 45-degree angle to keep the cork moist. You will find a variety of wine storage containers that are not only beautiful but functional. They will allow you to store your wine rack in a cupboard or closet with the bottle facing downward at 45 degrees.
Wine collectors will often have a bit of their cellar sealed off that will keep the wine at a constant low temperature and humidity level and have wine racks built that keep the wine bottles facing downwards. Optimum conditions for wine storage. But as a beginner wine collector, purchase a wine rack that will store 6-12 bottles of wine and set it in a closet, make sure it has downward facing storage to keep the cork moist and swelled enough to seal the wine properly.
Learning to store wine just takes a few basics, humidity, darkness, and a good seal on the bottle. If you open a bottle and do not finish it, there are now wine sealers you can purchase to reseal the bottle just as a cork would. It will pump all the oxygen out of the bottle and re-seal the wine for you.
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