Wine is a living beverage that continues to mature in the bottle. In the right conditions, some wines can last for months or even years without spoiling. Some wines do not need to be stored because they are not made to be aged, these are called table wines. Most young reds or whites do not last long. In addition, not all vintages of a wine are suitable for aging. There are many criteria for aging a wine, first and foremost the type of grape and the seasonal conditions of the year the grape was harvested. It is important that the grape variety is grown in the right soil, in the right climate zone, and with the right viticulture; in other words, terroir is a very determining factor for aging wine.
Assuming we have chosen the right wines, how can we store them at home?
First, we should not forget that wine is affected by light, heat, humidity, sound, and vibration. So, we need an environment where we can rest our wines, put them to sleep for a long time until it is time to drink them, where they will not be exposed to sunlight, where there will be minimal temperature changes, where they will be as far away from vibration as possible, and where the humidity level will be at least 75%. A temperature of 12-15 degrees Celsius is considered ideal for storing wine. In an environment above 18 degrees Celsius, wine ages quickly and deteriorates. Our home refrigerators are not sufficient for this. If we do not have a wine cellar, we can rest the wines for a while by choosing the coolest place in our home and protecting the bottles from sunlight. However, this method will be risky if we want to store the wine for many years. It is important to keep the environment humid and to keep the bottles in a horizontal position because the drying of the cork by not touching the wine causes the bottle to take in more air and the wine to oxidize.
At this point, the most ideal solution would be to buy a wine cellar specifically designed for wine. It is worth examining the products of companies such as Gaggenau, Siemens, Liebherr, Miele, and Eurocave.
Which wines are suitable for aging?
Wines from the Bordeaux region of France, white and red wines from the Burgundy region, Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello wines from Italy, Shiraz from Australia, and Cabernet from California are suitable for aging. Of course, you need to check the annual vintage evaluation tables of the regions and select the wines.
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