How to Store Wine the Right Way
The extravagant wine cellar in the most expensive home in America. #goals
If you have bottles piling up from a wine country trip, a wine club membership, or just regular Costco runs, I can’t stress highly enough that knowing how to store wine is just as important as knowing how to buy wine! If you’ve ever saved a special bottle, only to open it and have it taste like vinegar, or worse— you might have been storing wine the wrong way. The good news is, you don’t need a special, custom-built wine cellar to properly store wine… but there are wine storage rules you need to follow to get the best results on opening your prized bottles.
Since wine is a natural product made of biological matter that changes and evolves over time, it's sensitive to temperature and light. If you want to preserve the integrity of your bottles to enjoy for years to come, you have to learn how to store wine properly— unless you prefer drinking vinegar, that is. But if you’re reading this, I don’t think that applies to you!
Here’s how to store wine the right way:
Keep the Temperature Even
The main rule of bottle storage is that wine really likes to live at a consistent temperature. The WORST thing for your prized Chateauneuf-du-Pape is to be stored in a room that's hot, then cold, then hot, etc. If you live in a corner of the world with a continental, 4-season climate and no central air, you may want to invest in a wine fridge. I've seen dual-temperature ones, but that's not really necessary. Whites and reds can be stored together at around 55 degrees.
Even if you don’t have space or funds to have a wine cooler, it’s important that you keep wines away from places they could heat up. I commonly see wine bottles sitting on the counter RIGHT NEXT TO THE OVEN— which is honestly the worst place they can be! Find a cool corner of your basement or even a pantry shelf that stays consistent in temperature.
This applies to open bottles as well: always store them in the fridge once they’re open! (Yes, even red wines- you don’t have to drink them cold; let them warm on the counter before you drink them, but they need to be stored cold). Check out my ‘avocado theory’ for more info on that!
Keep Bottles Away From Light
UV rays also are very destructive to the fragile molecules in wine. This is why you often see fine wines in tinted glass bottles: dark glass acts like sunglasses for wine, and protects it from those harmful rays! If your wine rack is right in front of a window that gets direct, harsh sunlight, consider moving it to a shadowy side of your room. A pantry or closet is also great for this reason.
Store Bottles On Their Sides
The reason to store wine bottles on their sides is that by constantly keeping the cork moist, you're reducing the chance that the cork will dry out and disintegrate into a crumble of dust. Having a moist cork will keep the oxygen transmission through the cork nice and even (more on that here). A free-standing or wall-mount wine rack that keeps your bottles horizontal is a great tip for wine storage. I have two of these and love them— and you can check out more cute wine racks in our shop!
Always Stock Your Fridge With Some Sparkling
Ok, this may not necessarily be a wine storage tip; but keeping at least one bottle of something nice in your refrigerator door at all times is just one of those things that any wine-loving adult should do. It doesn't have to be Champagne- right now I have a really fun sparkling Montlouis from the Loire Valley. If you have an impromptu reason to celebrate, I promise you’ll wish you had a bottle that was pre-chilled and ready to go!
After your bottles are open, you can vacuum-pump them and keep them in the fridge- that should extend the life for a few days. And for all the SERIOUS collectors out there- spring for a Coravin! It's a gadget that allows you to pour a glass of whatever you like without actually pulling the cork- it pierces the cork with a needle, extracts your pour, and replaces the liquid with an inert gas. You can drink that bottle at whatever pace you like and it will be delicious for a long time. I use mine multiple times a week to taste different bottles I don’t want to open just yet— and it’s a fantastic investment.
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