How to store your wine well?

Filling your cellar with a nice collection of wine bottles is good. Knowing how to keep them is better! Because wine is a lively and fragile product, which does not like to be rushed. Gwilherm shares with us his advice on how to store his wine properly and how to ensure that it ages in the best conditions.

Wine is a living product

Wine is a fragile product, to be handled with care. It does not like to be rough (avoid the shaking of the subway near your cellar for example if you live in a big city). Thus, when you have just bought one or more bottles, they will always need some time to adapt to rest, and this, in a dark space (like you do after a long day of effort and you go to sleep!). Of course, the older it is, the more fragile it is. The bottles must also be laid down to keep the cork moist.

Like our body, wine needs to have a regulated temperature.

We often speak of cooler temperatures for the whites and higher temperatures for the reds. This is not true! Who can afford nowadays to have a competition winery like some professionals do? So, slice for a temperature between 11 and 14°C and around 80% humidity (ideal!). Humidity in a cellar serves to keep the flexible cork stopper "alive". A cellar that is too dry will cause the cork to shrink on itself, leaving the field open to bacteria that attack the wine. Above all, what must be respected is to avoid temperature variations (hot in summer and cold in winter). On the other hand, remember to place your delicious bottles in a relatively ventilated area. Indeed, by dint of taking a shower every day you allow your body to free itself from bad smells. Well, the same goes for wine! Indeed, remove the bottles from the packing boxes (no problem on the other hand for wooden cases). Avoid paint cans and other chemicals in your wine area. The most concrete example being the smell of cheese in a fridge that pollutes the rest of your food .

In short:

• A stable and ventilated environment
• A constant temperature
• Managing moisture content
• Pay attention to the light
• Finally, you will notice all too quickly that the space you have dedicated to the wine will be insufficient. As Jean Carmet used to say: "The only weapon I tolerate is the corkscrew".
  
  Gwilherm, contributor Les Grappes