How do you store your wine [+ Fridge/Cabinet recommendations]

[baiden]

Is the general consensus then that in today's world of screwcap wines a standard fridge is appropriate for long term storage ?
Presume it must be better than the old closet where temps fluctuate more either through the seasons or even during the day when temps can soar.

 

[leadman]

I'm not sure if there is a difference between the screwcap or cork to be honest in regards to storage and temperature. One thing i do notice is with aged wine, inferior corks really show why they are inferior.

 

[Daver6]

Is the general consensus then that in today's world of screwcap wines a standard fridge is appropriate for long term storage ?
Presume it must be better than the old closet where temps fluctuate more either through the seasons or even during the day when temps can soar.

A regular fridge is going to be too cold. However, if don't need to worry about the low humidity in a regular fridge since there are no corks to dry out.

I'm not sure if there is a difference between the screwcap or cork to be honest in regards to storage and temperature. One thing i do notice is with aged wine, inferior corks really show why they are inferior.

With cork you need relatively high humidity and store the wines horizontally in order to prevent the corks drying out.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Is the general consensus then that in today's world of screwcap wines a standard fridge is appropriate for long term storage ?

Definitely not. Same requirements for stelvin as for cork. There's no temperature differential requirement between stelvin and cork. A standard fridge has a number of problems, including temperature and vibration.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I'm not sure if there is a difference between the screwcap or cork to be honest in regards to storage and temperature. One thing i do notice is with aged wine, inferior corks really show why they are inferior.

Actually there's a vast difference. The old style cork closure is supposed to seal the bottle but it is expands and contracts with temperature and if humidity is low the situation is worse. Some winemakers, falsely, also believe that they buy their corks according to permeability so as to allow micro-oxygenation of the wine allowing it 'to develop further' in the bottle. (Seems to me they buy cheaper corks which are rated in permeability but is a measure of quality not actual ability to develop the wine.) This is just medieval hocus pocus. The point of the closure is to preserve the contents of the bottle at the time it was bottled with the small amount of oxygen in the bottle.

So far less concern with screw caps. Sensible to keep in dark and low vibrato with temperature range as small as possible and absolute storage temperature reasonable, say under 20, but good wines will still keep for 20 years under screw cap under such conditions and develop well.

More myths about wine storage than there are wine makers!

 

[leadman]

I'm probably looking at it from my perspective. i really dont see to much different in the cellar. in fact we have for the past few years try to distinguish between both, but gave up. As i mentioned above the biggest problem is poor quality corks in aged wine. It generally falls apart in the last part, and most moist, part of the cork.

 

[leadman]

With cork you need relatively high humidity and store the wines horizontally in order to prevent the corks drying out.

all the bottles in the cellar are stored horizontally, the only ones vertical are the empties!!!!!!!

 

[Daver6]

I'm probably looking at it from my perspective. i really dont see to much different in the cellar. in fact we have for the past few years try to distinguish between both, but gave up. As i mentioned above the biggest problem is poor quality corks in aged wine. It generally falls apart in the last part, and most moist, part of the cork.

That's just what happens with older corks. Invest in a Durand and you'll never have that problem again.

 

[leadman]

That's just what happens with older corks. Invest in a Durand and you'll never have that problem again.

We just find it part enjoyment of the cellar, yes we looked at it and other devices but now simply use a tea strainer for any carryover cork. Works perfectly, and an open bottle of wine never lasts long in our household so never needs recorking.........

 

[roshea]

Hi all. I'm moving to my new apartment soon and am looking for ideas for storing wine in a hall cupboard. It looks to be a good size for what I own (about 25 dozen, currently in a variety of boxes under the stairs), but I'm thinking about putting racks in there for ease of access. I have 8 Cellarboxes (bought about 30 years ago) for the bottles I'm keeping longer term, and I'm happy with keeping the 2-5 year cellaring bottles on the shelves, maybe with some foam lining to the cupboard if space permits, just to reduce short-term temperature variation.

Does anyone have some good resources on retrofitting a cupboard or wardrobe for wine storage? The plastic racks at Vinrac seem like a reasonable option at about $1/bottle, but I'm sure there are many other good ideas around!

 

[Daver6]

Hi all. I'm moving to my new apartment soon and am looking for ideas for storing wine in a hall cupboard. It looks to be a good size for what I own (about 25 dozen, currently in a variety of boxes under the stairs), but I'm thinking about putting racks in there for ease of access. I have 8 Cellarboxes (bought about 30 years ago) for the bottles I'm keeping longer term, and I'm happy with keeping the 2-5 year cellaring bottles on the shelves, maybe with some foam lining to the cupboard if space permits, just to reduce short-term temperature variation.

Does anyone have some good resources on retrofitting a cupboard or wardrobe for wine storage? The plastic racks at Vinrac seem like a reasonable option at about $1/bottle, but I'm sure there are many other good ideas around!

https://www.cellarack.com/ who I used for the racking for me cellar will build custom racks. They were a pleasure to deal with. I'm in Perth, they're in Melbourne.

 

[roshea]

https://www.cellarack.com/ who I used for the racking for me cellar will build custom racks. They were a pleasure to deal with. I'm in Perth, they're in Melbourne.

Thanks, they look good! I need to get access to the place to properly measure the space.

 

[barryc108]

Living on a hill I have a fair bit of space under the house. Thankfully part was dug out and concreated by the original owner.

Unfortunatly though it is on the N/E side of the house. Temps fluctuate from about 14-20 slowly through the year, I'm hoping also there a bit of thermal mass going on by putting the better quality stuff at the bottom of the pile.

Have been thinking of a 30 bottle fridge as well for the long term reds.

 

[Steady]

Living on a hill I have a fair bit of space under the house. Thankfully part was dug out and concreated by the original owner.

Unfortunatly though it is on the N/E side of the house. Temps fluctuate from about 14-20 slowly through the year, I'm hoping also there a bit of thermal mass going on by putting the better quality stuff at the bottom of the pile.

Have been thinking of a 30 bottle fridge as well for the long term reds.

Halliday says here that his cellar ranges from 14 to 22

 

[MrEd]

Halliday says here that his cellar ranges from 14 to 22

That's interesting. I gave a bottle of wine to a friend a few years back and cringed every time I saw it sitting on top of a rack in a brightly lit area subject to seasonal and daily temperature variations. Finally I mentioned that it'll probably be ruined so we decided to crack it open. You know, I couldn't say it was any worse off than the same wine from the same batch I've had sitting here at a constant 15C over the same period. And this was just a cheapy Maverick Twins Cabernet Blend. Whether it would've ultimately survived the same potential aging is another question.

 

[Buzzard]

Overall I find wine to be pretty resilient.

 

[teammongo]

Regarding your orginal question - screw caps will not continue to age as only the packaged oxygen is available for aging (so the theory goes..). A cork may let more oxygen in via porousity and cycling movement with temperature changes. A bit of a mute point.
Some screw cap wines are packaged with nitrogen - thus will not age in the tradition sense. They are "always ready to drink". An example would the Molleydooker range.

Back to storage - I had 3 vintec wine fridges and found them incredible inefficient! They where cycling all the time with 2 of the 3 always on!

It is actually cheaper to have a refrigerated cellar than wine fridges, you get more volume and lower running costs. Also you have the booze on site, I tried off site, but could never get the good stuff when I "felt" like it..

A refridgerated concrete cellar with refrigeration panels gives excellent insulation, with virtually no temperature cycling.

 

[Whining&dining]

Wow TM I thought we were in the backroom of Danny Murphy's after seeing that photo, nice work!

 

[redbigot]

Regarding your orginal question - screw caps will not continue to age as only the packaged oxygen is available for aging (so the theory goes..). A cork may let more oxygen in via porousity and cycling movement with temperature changes. A bit of a mute (moot?) point.
Some screw cap wines are packaged with nitrogen - thus will not age in the tradition sense. They are "always ready to drink". An example would the Molleydooker range.

That is incorrect.
Oxygen is not required for many aspects of wine maturation. Also the seal in screwcaps can be purchased at various levels of porosity. Screwcap sealed wines mature about the same way a wine sealed with a "perfect cork" would - but without cork flavours that some people seem to like.
Study "proves" oxygen not necessary for wine ageing | Articles | JancisRobinson.com

I've been cellaring screwcap sealed reds since about 2002 vintage, they do mature and more consistently than wines sealed with natural cork.

Even Mollydooker wines mature under scewcap, I don't buy them much, but have a couple of 2010 vintage Carnival of Love and Enchanted Path that have developed significantly since release, not necessarily for the better, depending on how you like your wines.

This is my cellar: The Red Bigot Cellar

I probably have less than 100 cork-sealed wines now and I'm storing some of the scewcapped wines upright now, as per this more recent pic.

 

[matthewdoutt]

I consult this website which is very useful, Wine Storage Guidelines by Christian Butzke Enology Professor Department of Food Science Purdue University, hope that helps.