In the film Sideways, Maya– played by Virginia Madsen– describes why she loves red wine a lot.
“I like how white wine continues to progress, like if I opened a bottle of white wine today it would taste different than if I ‘d opened it on any other day, because a bottle of red wine is in fact alive,” she states. “And it’s continuously progressing and acquiring complexity. That is, up until it peaks. And after that it starts its constant, inescapable decrease.”
The sentiment is so true, but she forgot to discuss something: Wine just develops, gets intricacy and hits its peak if it is being effectively kept. Otherwise that unavoidable decline will rear its awful head a lot sooner than preferred.
However there are many mistaken beliefs about correct wine storage and the climate conditions that are necessary to maintain bottles. Here, we debunk some typical white wine storage myths. These are the five enemies of red wine.
Temperature
Heat is Public Enemy Number One for red wine. All white wine ought to be saved at the very same temperature, ideally in between 53 and 57 ° F. This is the ideal temperature level for red, white, sparkling and prepared red wines to age and develop, if it remains in their DNA to do so. A note: It’s only serving temps that differ for whites, reds and shimmering. Wine that has been exposed to warm temperatures can frequently handle a cooked or stewed characteristic, like any fruit product exposed to severe heat. If it gets too warm over a longer time period, the heat can press the cork out of the bottle and lead to oxidation. This process can turn the wine brown in color, and possibly eliminate any scents of fruit and potentially result in notes of vinegar and even Sherry.
Absence of Humidity
Lying red wine on its side will keep the cork moist enough for a couple of years, but for longer-term storage, a consistent relative humidity between 50 and 80% is required in order to avoid the corks from drying. As soon as that takes place, damaging air can slip into the bottle leading to potential oxidation also.
Light
Extended exposure of UV light can ruin a bottle of wine. UV rays damage tannins, which play a crucial function in preventing oxidation that can too soon age white wine. It can also cause the wine to end up being cloudy and produce strong smells and off-flavors.
Vibration
As a red wine ages, it naturally produces different solids and sediment, much of which are the by-products of fermentation. Vibration of the red wine may artificially speed up the production of solids, accelerating the maturation procedure as well as generating minimal heat that causes the corks to move. Having red wine move just possible is ideal for long-term storage.
Smell
Strong, sustained odors can negatively change the flavor of wine. This can originate from fragrant wood, discolorations or lacquer or even pungent smells in a room where the red wine sits such as stogies, garlic, strong spices and even home or garage chemicals. For that reason, keeping your red wine in the cooking area or garage– presuming it’s not in a wine cellar– is probably not the very best concept.
The Best Method to Store Your White wine
There are wine storage services for each wine collection and budget plan, everything just depends on for how long you are aging your wine and for what reason.
If you are simply aiming to keep red wine at a great, cool temperature and are going to consume your white wine within a year or so, one of the most standard white wine coolers will do just fine. However if you have some bottles that you are intending on enjoying with your children for their birthdays decades down the roadway, then you want to make certain that you have a wine cellar that will secure versus all of those enemies of white wine.
For more intel on the right red wine cooler for you, take a look at our handy guide to the best wine rack for any amount of white wine. Want more wine-storage suggestions!.?.!? We’ve got you covered.
Released on November 10, 2022