wine storage

55 reds
45 whites

 

A little cooler than I prefer for reds. Never mind I keep them at 57. I just checked. Whites I keep cooler at 40.

I like to service reds at 60 to 63 and whites at 45


Moving into wine now Rob?

 

Old fridge and wine have soul . . .
http://herbiesworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/low-budged-wine-cellar-from-refigerator.html

 

I think the wisdom is that storage is the same temp. Serving temp is different. No light and no big temp swings are the two big deals. A closet in my Houston condo killed a lot of wines. Just being in Oregon is better on my wines, but now I have temp. controlled storage.

S

 

Rob, ARTNNYC's advice is sound; those are temps I keep in my wine storage system (it has two zone cooling). It makes a difference what purpose you have for wine storage, though. If everything you have is likely to be drunk in 12-18 months, a cool (like lower 60s) spot that is dark is fine. Keep bottles from places of vibration, don't jostle them around and keep them out of direct sunlight. More humidity is better...Age worthy bottles will mature more slowly in colder temps, just as large format bottles mature more slowly than the 750s do.
I have bottles stretching back to the early 80's that I have had for 20+ years and they do well at 55. Most of the wines bought in the U.S. are consumed within a couple of months of purchase. And as you know, not all wines benefit from age. Different vintages also have different prime drinking windows; wine is a living thing. There is nothing worse than holding on to a bottle too long and then pulling the cork only to find it DoA. Summer is here and the roses, beaujolais (with some exception) loire valley whites, NZ sauvignons, etc. are best drunk young.

 

Red should be layed down at 55-57 degrees...
Whites can be stroed att he same temp but should be cooled prior to drinking.
Why can stores keep the wines at room temp while they are in the store? Because they sell them before anything can really happen. In order to "AGE" the red wines, they need to lay down at the 55 temp. White wines are made to be drunk and enjoyed right away...
As a side note, I have seen the movie bottle shock many times and as a matter of fact, i just passed up on a chance to buy one of three bottles left from Ch. Montalena from that Paris tasting..... They wanted $11,000.00 for the bottle.

 

That's pretty cool. I've been thinking about getting an older spare fridge for the garage anyway. I have also been thinking about getting one of the smaller undercounter wine fridges. I usually only keep about 10-15 bottles on hand at the most. Right now I have some stashed in a cool corner of the garage and some sits out in the kitchen. Most of it end up being consumed before anything bad can happen. It would be nice though to have room to store up when I see a good deal!!

 

I like wine too much. I can't ever collect it because my friends and I drink it as fast as I buy it.

I have a wine rack, but it's empty.

 

Cave temp is 55 degrees what else is there ?

 

Just wait until you get to the point that you need a room for your cellar...

CW

 

We have 2 wine coolers. Both are set to 52F and have no compressor to jiggle the wine. This is for reds. Great reds (Bordeauxs) should be laid down for 20 years for the best results. Heat is the enemy of reds. Wine ages and changes over time. Too hot or too cold messes up the chemistry. Trust me.

As a general rule, whites are are drunk young and can be put in the fridge. 5 years is about max for a white. They usually can tolerate big temp swings. We drink them so fast who knows.

52F.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_of_wine

 

My views fwiw:

Cellar both red and white at ~56 degrees.

Serve reds at cellar temp (they will heat up over time of drinking). Serve most whites at 50 or so, but this can vary a lot depending upon what wine. I firmly believe that serving temp can change a wine far more dramatically than most folks realize.

Bigger question in my mind though is: "why cellar a wine"? followed by "which wines to cellar"?

The vast majority of wines (likely north of 90%) don't get better with age. Of course, the collectable wines in the world are only 2-3% max of wine production anyways. Those wines can benefit from (and in some cases absolutely suck without) aging. Totally depends on the grape, the ground and the vintage (and how its made).

For my palate, I like bordeaux and burgundy with a lot of age (for the finer wines, they can often peak at age 30-50, lesser wines anywhere from 5-20 years). OTOH, I am finding that I don't enjoy Cali wines that much any more and I actually enjoy them younger rather than letting them age. That is because I like them for their fruity, tannic yumminess and find that those strengths don't improve with age in many/most cases.

Wine is a bigger obsession for me than cars, or at least was until I got my first Ferrari

 

I run my wines colder - 50 or so. keep both white & red that way. Most of my reds are burgundy and a few bordeaux... i have some very old bottles that are doing just fine... we have one every 2 - 3 years have not had a bad one yet.

I cellar a lot of Sauternes and they do well at 50... not a big cali cab / Zinfandel fan... but have been getting a lot more into barolo's lately. I like to drink History.

 

Do some research on the coolers to see just how many bottles they will hold. A lot depends on their shelf arrangement and if they can be moved to accomodate larger bottles. The capacity they usually give is accurate for the stand Bordeaux bottles, but a lot of vintners, especially from California, are now using larger diameter bottles that won't fit in the standard space between shelves. Also, some of the companies show their units with large quantities of the same wine stacked without any shelves being used. I bought a unit advertsed for 176 bottles, but it won't hold near that many with what I have.

 

Check out Sub-Zero.
In the long run worth it.

 

Here is where we store our wine. Dug down two feet below the rest of the cellar with concrete piers under the floor to help keep the temperature consistent. It does vary from about 45 in the winter to 60 in the summer, but the transition is very slow - never more than 2 degrees a day.
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Very cool thats a beautiful cellar.

 

Thanks Nick...if you are ever in Central Illinois, stop by and we will open up a few bottles!

 

Wow, that's gorgeous. Very tasteful and not overdone!!

 

Thanks John! We really enjoy it. It is a great place to sit at the table and enjoy a bottle of wine. Please let me know if you are ever traveling through Central Illinois and would like to visit.