Storing Wine

[Puggit]

Now that I am the proud owner of a cave in France, I'd like to keep some of my stock of booze there.

So...

I believe red is the easy one? On it's side in the cave, which has a steady temperature year round.
White - ditto but only for a couple of years max?

Champers (and the local Vouvray) - how the hell do I store this, and how long for?

Over to you lot

[littlegreenfairy]

Its best stored in my tummy

[HiRich]

Quite a lot to ask. Starting with the cellar itself, the priorities in order are:

• A stable temperature (stability is more important than the actual number)
• Always store bottles on their side, to ensure the wine keeps the cork moist. Champagne can be an exception - see below
• Keep it dark
• Be sure the temperature won't drop below 40F/4C (the point at which particulates form in white wines)
• Aim for 50F/10C as the optimum temperature for really long storage. 55F/13C is still good.
• Undisturbed. Avoid vibration, and the less you move a bottle, the better
• Don't store with other products that might taint the wine. Chemicals, and cheese are big no-no's. Basically, if it smeels, keep it out.
• Try to keep the place quite humid (to stop the cork drying and/or relying on the wine), but not so humid that paper and card will rot.

So things to pay attention to:

• Door
• Temperature: get a good cellar thermometer, which records min and max with telltales
• Build from the back of the cave. That means less disturbance when you pop in for other things. You might consider partitioning the cellar so the wine is behind a second door.
• Lay out the cellar. If you buy by the case, there's no need to open (if you were to ever sell on, auctioneers would prefer whole, unopened cases). For loose bottles, there are all sorts of racks and bins available. The former takes more space per bottle but is better if you only have odd bottles (less disturbance if you remove one).
• Always mount securely. Don't let it stand free - bolt it securely to the wall.
• Don't stack cases too high - Sod's Law always means you want the one at the bottom. Consider beefy shelves.
• Make space/allowance for magnums and half-bottles, which normally don't fit in racks.
• Neck tags are a good idea. You can find the wines without removing the bottle. There are fancy ones, but cheap string tags can be bought at Rymans. I use little white ones (write name & vintage on them), and a pink one for bottles that need drinking up. The tags also come in handy for managing your cellar record (see below)
• I try to group similar wines (ports together, cheapish plonk near the front) to make it easier to locate.
• A torch may be handy, no matter how good your lighting.
• When you put loose bottles in, a good tip is to lay them label upwards. Particularly with dark bottles, that means you will always know where the sediment has settled.

Records: You should maintain a record of what you have. This will help know what you've got, what needs drinking, and perhaps for insurance purposes. You might also link Tasting Notes to it. I use a spreadsheet that lists:

• Type
• Region
• Grower/name
• Vintage
• Quantity
• Location (case, loose, offsite)

I then add "from the books":

• Maturity period (from Year A to Year B)
• Rating for year and specific wine (I use Robert Parker), so you know how special it is.
• Bottle value, and when price last confirmed
• Link to my Tasting Notes

This is where the neck tags come in. New purchases are tagged and logged in. Cheap stuff doesn't get tagged (and s stands out when I pop in for a quick bottle for the supper on the table). When I pull a good bottle, I put the old tag aside. When I next open the spreadsheet, I have the tags in a pile to check off.
You might print the sheet off every year or so, and pin a copy in the cellar.

Finally, the wines. The broad rule is red lasts, white short, but unsurprisingly it's much more complicated.

• Only good red lasts. Many are meant to drink young.
• Some great whites can last decades in perfect conditions.
• Fortified & dessert wines will last. Vintage port needs to be left for a good 20 years before you touch it.
• All champagne should be laid down, even the cheap(er) stuff. The growers sell it green, and it will always appreciate a year in cellar. So never buy to drink, and always have a spare in the cellar for surprise celebrations. As mentioned, champagne does not need to be stored flat, uniquely, because of the way the cork works. Upright or flat is OK, but keep it dark.
• You can only draw general guidelines from the grape or region. What really matters is how the producer has created the wine, and how well that particular vintage is suited to ageing.

When it comes to choosing your wines, it comes down to research and experience. Independent tasting notes are best. There have been previous threads on this subject which are worth looking at. I will recommend the Robert Parker books. He's a very controversial wine writer, but he tastes an awful lot of top wine and gives detailed notes. If you are serious about cellaring, it's worth looking at his thick and expensive books. Just don't follow it too slavishly.

[Puggit]

Thanks HiRich - a tonne of advice!