Introduction
One of the many joys of the world of wine is having a personal wine collection. There is just something fun with personalizing wine collections according to your taste. Collecting isn’t all handpicking or buying them all that you have to do. The preservation process of the wines is the most important part of this leisure. The impacts of wine cellar monitoring reflect in their quality. These might be observed in wine’s color, taste, smell, and alcohol content.
There’s no need to have the best wine cellar at home. As long as you have good wine cellar monitoring tools and knowledge. Temperature and humidity monitoring cannot be forsaken. The regular wine rack can still cater to your taste buds and mood. This simple storage rack can also age your wines if you so desired.
It is known that not everyone can have a chateau with a grand wine cellar. Still, people should be aware of how to store and do their wine cellar monitoring. Wine storage is tricky but not downright impossible. All you need to do is to follow these basic guidelines. In doing so, your wine will be as just as you want it. Worry not, as correct wine handling doesn’t need to be expensive or overwhelming.
The Perfect Temperature
To start, the first thing to manage is the temperature of the wines. It is the first metric to get right into because the temperature of your wine cellar will affect the taste of the wine. If the temperature isn’t monitored well then there is a big chance of spoiling.
The ideal temperature differs from wine to wine. In general, the most ideal temperature for a wine cellar is usually 55°F. Again, this depends on the kind of wine. The best way to know is to contact the manufacturer of your wine and get the specific details.
Wines can age faster if the temperature reaches 70°F. Anything more can lead to the wine in the bottle is ‘cooked’. This will unfortunately lead to your wine having flat favors and aromas. On the other hand, wine freezes at a temperature of 25°F. It is also important to not let the wine cellar’s temperature fluctuate too much. The cork will end up expanding and contracting if the temperature is unstable. The wine will seep out as a result. This proves the need to install a wine cellar monitoring system.
How About Humidity?
Dry air causes the corks to dry out. It will also cause seepage and air bubbles because the wine is vulnerable to oxygen.
Only 70% of Relative Humidity (RH) is considered to be ideal when it comes to wine cellar monitoring. However, anything between 50%RH to 80%RH can work as well in storing as long as it is in the range between the two. Higher humidity is not good for the wine. It can cause mold to grow on the cork and bottles. It can also cause the labels to peel off (which can make it look unattractive). This can make it harder for them to showcase or sell the wine bottles.
Yes, Light is a Big Factor
This may come as a surprise for some, but the light is a huge factor for long-term wine cellar storage. The UV rays from sunlight can have a negative effect on them. It can affect the quality of the wine by damaging the aromas and flavors. This will put your wine at great risk of degrading in quality and premature aging.
Vintners use colored glass bottles to protect the wine from this. Think of it like sun-glasses, for the wine. Despite this, it is encouraged to keep your wine bottles in a darker area. The light from light bulbs or interior lights won’t pose much of a threat but it can fade the labels in the long run. However, to make sure that there aren’t that many UV rays exposed to your wine, you can use Incandescent bulbs.
This type of bulbs tends to be safer since they emit fewer UV rays compared to fluorescent bulbs. Having too much light exposure can cause wine faults. Wine faults occur when the compounds in the wine get thrown out of whack if it is either too strong or too weak. It is said to have crossed the sensory threshold once when we can taste or smell the imbalance.
Wines having too much light exposure are called light-struck. To avoid this, manage the lighting in your wine cellar or wherever your wine cellar is in your home.
Does Vibration Matter?
Yes, even vibration matters to your wine. It can speed up the chemical reactions in the liquid of wine. In the long run, this can result in having a negative effect as this damages your wine.
It is important to keep any source of vibration away from your wines. This includes things like the dryer, washer, or even the stereo system. It can disturb sediments in the wine bottles and tamper with the aging process. However, if only for short-term storage, vibrations don’t need to be mulled over that much.
What is the Proper Way to Place your Bottles?
Even the positioning of your wine is an integral part of the process. Make sure to store your wine horizontally. For screw-capped wine bottles, they don’t need to be on their sides. Wine bottles with corks is a different story, however.
They must be placed in a lying down or sideways position. The reason for this is so that it will make the wine in constant contact with the cork. It helps keep the natural corks moist and expanded and maintains an airtight seal. This will also prevent your cork from drying out, seepage, and premature aging. All in all, horizontal storage is the best way to store wine and to ensure it maintains quality.
Where to Store my Wine?
For a lot of us, we tend to be ‘everyday wine lovers’ as opposed to ‘wine collectors’. Not everyone has a basement wine cellar for storage purposes. Not to mention, can afford the kind of wine which has to be stored in a grand cellar. However, it doesn’t mean you should store your wine without putting some thought into it.
In a cool part of your house, fitting a wine rack in a dark cupboard will already do. This is already good enough if you intend to consume your wine within a span of a few months. If we’re talking about aging your wine for a few years, then investing in a wine refrigerator will help. This will maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels. Remember a good quality refrigerator wine doesn’t need to be too costly.
Conclusion
In the end, wine storage is a joy to do but not something that can be carelessly done. It can still be a rather tricky area to navigate.
As stated above, these are some of the basic guidelines to follow. A long line of potential problems can happen in a single mistake. Even as simple as finding the perfect spot in your home to store your wine is very important. If stored in an unmonitored environment, the risk of degrading the quality of expensive wine is high.
This article is for people who are in the industry of wine cellar or simply have a niche for collecting wines. As long as you educate yourself on proper wine cellar monitoring, then there shouldn’t be any problem. All you need to do is maintain your wine cellar with a trusted monitoring system for your wine storage.
AKCP provides a wine cellar monitoring solution that includes temperature, humidity, airflow and water leak detection. With the AKCP wireless remote monitoring solution, we can sense disaster before it happens, putting you in control of the situation.
Wine cellar monitoring solutions can assure your wine to last for a longer time for the special occasions you’ve saved for it.
