Wine often gets better with age, but only if you store it properly. If you do not adhere to proper storage protocols, the wine you pull out a few years from now will be overly tannic and perhaps even spoiled. That's a waste of good wine! To ensure your wine grows only more delicious with time, follow these six simple storage tips.
1. Keep the temperature constant
Bad places to store wine include in your garage, in a crawlspace, and in a non-climate-controlled storage unit. Fluctuations in temperature will cause the wine to spoil quickly. The ideal storage temperature for most wines is between 65 and 75 degrees. So, keeping it in your dining room, living room, or a climate-controlled storage area is preferable.
2. Store it on its side
Purchase a holder that tilts the bottles on their sides for long-term storage. This keeps the cork moist so that it does not shrink and allow air to seep into the bottle.
3. Keep it in the dark
UV rays from the sun will cause certain components within the wine to break down, releasing undesirable flavors. Many wines are bottled in green or brown bottles to reduce UV exposure, but you should still make an effort to store the wine away from sunlight.
4. Do not store it in the fridge
There's a common misconception that white wine should be stored in the fridge. But while you do want to serve white wine chilled, you only want to refrigerate it an hour or two before serving. For long-term storage, room temperature is best — whether the wine is white, red, or a rose.
5. Keep garlic and other herbs away from the bottles
You might see some beautiful Pinterest pictures with wine and garlic stored together, but this is actually a bad idea. Wine breathes through the cork. This breathing is slight, but if there are really aromatic foods nearby, it is enough to affect the flavor of the wine. Keep anything pungent far from your wine.
6. Don't store the wine for too long
You've probably watched movies where wine lovers pull out bottles from 1960 and enjoy how they have aged. However, the truth is that only certain wines are designed to age well over this long of a period. Most wines are best after being stored for 2, 5, or maybe even 10 years. Don't go beyond this unless a winemaker specifically told you that a particular wine was suited for long aging.
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