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How Long Can You Keep Wine In The Cellar Before It Goes Bad?
The number of years you can cellar wine for is an almost impossible issue to resolve. There exist a multitude of dynamics, for example the type of grape, sort of wine, quality of that year's vintage, skill of the wine master, history of the manufacturer for crafting wines that improve with age, along with the conditions within which you keep your wine. Good storage conditions go a long way to prolonging the life of a wine. The ideal climate is cool, dark, airy, and free from vibration, odors and dampness. And don't worry; you can easily achieve this even if you don't have a subterranean cavern beneath your mansion! Without a doubt the most critical consideration is temperature management, in particular, keeping it as stable as possible. Cellaring wine in places where temperatures vary slowly but surely between the seasons is good. On the other hand, stocking wine somewhere that is heated for part of the day and chills down to cold-month temperatures overnight is bad. Major temperature swings will bring forward the ruin of your wine. The best temperature range for your cellar is 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit and relative humidity is best kept at 65-75 percent. Wine matures quicker when storage temperatures are in excess of 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This decreases the amount of time it will keep, so it's a good idea to use a thermometer to keep an eye on summer temperatures. It is best to rack wine bottles on their side with the top sloping slightly upwards to ensure the cork is always soaked, the bubble of air rests in the bottle's shoulder and sediment collects at the bottom. Regardless that screw caps are far more common these days, it makes sense to stick with this regimen since it results in a wine that is less complicated to serve. If you take care to lay the bottle with the label facing upwards, you will not need to move the bottle to identify it. Air conditioning and refrigeration are good for reducing temperatures but also reduce humidity, which causes cork shrinkage with ruinous results. If you can afford it, a better alternative is a cellaring cabinet - effectively a modified refrigerator with humidity control - that several companies now offer in a range of sizes. The issue of where to store wine can be quite an issue for owners of condos and people who live in apartments, so these compact fridge-like cellaring cabinets are ideal, with modern kitchens and dining rooms easily accommodating them. It is a vastly superior option to storing wine in a cupboard below the sink, because the hot & cold water running overhead, and in many cases a dishwasher beside it, is a very poor storage option. Keeping your wine close to radiators or heat grates is just as bad. The basement of a house is an excellent location for wine storage. A cabinet or small room made of concrete or brick will even out daily fluctuations in temperature, and if it can be insulated, that will provide even more protection for your valuable wine collection. Once upon a time, heavy red wines were soused in oak and not very pleasant to drink in their juvenile years. As they matured, the tannins softened and came into equilibrium with the fruit. After years of cellaring they matured into sublimely drinkable wines. But in this day and age the great majority of wines do not get better as they mature. They simply become different over time. Occasionally it's a better different but that's not always the case. Cheaper lightweight reds and virtually all white wines swilled on a daily basis are ideally knocked back while still youthful - within the first 12 months of purchase if possible. The principal fruit flavors are at their best over this stage of their development. A few will last beyond this period, but there's a big difference between "lasting" and improving. I suggest keeping your valuable storage space for good quality wines that will most benefit from time in the cellar. Wines that get better while they age in your cellar are usually full-bodied red wines of high quality. Quality is vitally important - high quality wines nearly always get better as they mature. Chemical reactions take place during maturation, as a result of which the wine gains new flavors and aromas. This imbues the wine with gentler complexity, adding multiple dimensions and greater interest to the drinking experience. As a good red wine reaches full maturity, it loses its tannic astringency and acquires more cedar, coffee and tobacco characteristics - a beautifully rounded pleasure for your taste buds. I recommend buying 6-12 bottles of a premium red wine if you intend to cellar it. After a couple of years, drink a bottle every six months to assess its development. When you think it couldn't possibly taste any better, drink the rest up over the next few months! Should you be uncertain, it's best to enjoy it sooner than later. I have seen an excessive number of "rest home cellars" stocked with wine that is way past its use-by date and in serious decline. It is always advisable to sip wine that is a bit on the youthful side than one that's too ancient! Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com DARRYL SOLJAN owns Ascension Wine Estate, one of the premier Auckland wedding venues and Auckland conference centre. (C) 2010 Darryl Soljan. You may republish this article provided you publish the entire article with no changes, include the FULL resource box, agree not to change the title or article content in any way, and agree to make all links active/linkable with no syntax changes. |
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