Wine storage is important if you want to keep your wines tasting their best for years to come. If you are a big wine connoisseur or just saving a few bottles to crack open on special occasions, it’s important to understand how best to store them safely until you’re ready to partake. McNair Custom Homes has assembled some advice from the experts on wine storage at home.

Temperature

To ensure each wine bottle maintains the proper flavor and aroma, storing it at the correct temperature is essential. Regardless if it is red, white, or sparkling, storing your bottles at 53°F to 57°F is most ideal. Keeping your bottles in a room where the temperature is much warmer than that may cause the flavor to become flat. Keep your wine in the dark and away from direct UV rays as much as you can to protect the wine’s flavor.

Moisture

Controlling the humidity in the room is important if you plan to store bottles for more than a couple of years. The ideal humidity for wine storage is between 50 to 75 percent and anything below that could cause the corks to dry out, letting air seep into the bottle.

Positioning

Generally, it is advised to store wine bottles on their sides. This allows the wine to stay up against the cork which should aid in keeping it from drying out. However, if you don’t plan to store the wine for long or if the bottle has a screw top or plastic cork, this is not required for safe wine storage.

Timing

Not all wine is designed to have a long shelf life or be aged. Make sure you know what the winemaker’s intention was for that particular bottle. It is always better to open it a little early and enjoy it!

Wine Cellars and Wine Rooms

Of course, we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t mention that McNair Custom Homes can build any one of a host of custom wine storage solutions for you in your next home. From cellars with tasting rooms inside them to simple climate controlled storage, we can build you a solution that will suit your wine collection, whether you’ve been building it for years or you’re just getting started.

photo courtesy of niseag03