storing wine

[malks222]

looking for some advice on storing wine for a wedding. wedding is next year (july), we are supplying fizz for drinks reception then white/ red on table for meal and we've seen some pretty good deals on wine. the problem is where to store it......

I've read about the problems of storing wine in the house, eg rooms that have a lot of direct sun light and fluctuations in temperature. We are lucky we have an outside tanked cellar, old tenement flat, with a cellar under the road in front of the flat. the cellar is tanked, dry, waterproof, currently stores bikes, skis, Christmas tree, canoeing equipment...... no signs of mold or dampness.

would this be ok to store wine for 9 months?? now we are not talking about expensive vintage wines, think screw top new world wines, but I also don't want to waste £1k of booze. the cellar will get cold in winter, but its not gonna fluctuate wildly and don't think will be freezing inside. will this be ok??

[ZedLeg]

Sunlight and heat are the big killers so your cellar should be fine.

[tomtom]

It'll be fine in the cellar. If the bottles have corks (rather than screw tops) then store them lying down.

Where's that thread with Soovy's 'wine cellar' gone?

[Davey S2]

tomtom said:

Where's that thread with Soovy's 'wine cellar' gone?

Loved that

[greysquirrel]

we were in a similar position and simply stored the champage and wine in an outhouse where the oil is stored. It was dark and cold, even in the summer. TBH 9 months isn't going to do much unless you leave it in direct sunlight. I bet some sit one Tesco shelves for longer!

[malks222]

thanks, sounds like it will be fine out in the cellar/ shed. as I said its under ground level (live in a basement flat), under the road, so fairly slow moving temperature! and yes I'm sure stuff possibly does stay on Tesco's shelves longer!!

I'm intrigued to see soovys wine cellar.......

[BoRED S2upid]

Make sure you take advantage of the Sainsbury's deal that Martin money saving fella promoted yesterday dirt cheap fizz.

[richard sails]

When storing wine, the most important factor is change in temperature, somewhere that remains at a constant temp all day and all night is best. Cool is better than warm but the temperature itself is not too important.

The reason wine spoils quickly when stored somewhere with a large change in temperature is because the air in the bottle heats up and pressurises the bottle slightly, this causes a little air to be pushed out through and past the cork. When the temperature drops the air inside the bottle contracts and causes a small quantity of air to be drawn into the bottle. This additional oxygen causes the wine to age more quickly, in the worst case airborne bacteria can also be drawn into the bottle causing the wine to spoil.

Find a dark space where the temperature is reasonably stable and as some else had said, store the bottles such that the corks are wet and your wine will be fine.

[Big E 118]

richard sails said:

When storing wine, the most important factor is change in temperature, somewhere that remains at a constant temp all day and all night is best. Cool is better than warm but the temperature itself is not too important.

The reason wine spoils quickly when stored somewhere with a large change in temperature is because the air in the bottle heats up and pressurises the bottle slightly, this causes a little air to be pushed out through and past the cork. When the temperature drops the air inside the bottle contracts and causes a small quantity of air to be drawn into the bottle. This additional oxygen causes the wine to age more quickly, in the worst case airborne bacteria can also be drawn into the bottle causing the wine to spoil.

Find a dark space where the temperature is reasonably stable and as some else had said, store the bottles such that the corks are wet and your wine will be fine.

Spot on above.

I took this photo earlier in the year. At least one of the bottles in the photo below are from the 1830's, constant light and temperature and apparently they are still drinkable.....although the Champagne of the 1800's was very different to that produced today.



Some info on them below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/agriculture/...