The perfect cellar: small/big tips to better preserve wine at home

 

The cellar is not only the place where the wine rests and ages (hopefully well).

It’s also - and above all - the physical space of the passion of wine, the place where every wine-enthusiast loves to spend time looking, ordering, listening, seeing the bottles grow and evolve as if they were his creatures.

Besides this, a beautiful cellar also ends up adding further value to the wine, enriching it with a formal prestige but at the same time indisputable (especially with people that aren’t wine-lover, and therefore have no idea of ​​the wines you keep in your cellar… 😊).

Furthermore, depending on the "degree of passion" but also (and above all) in relation to economic possibilities, the cellar becomes a place where – in many cases – is stored a important capital, and for this reason it is fundamental to respect a series of rules, with the aim of allowing the best possible conservation of the "heritage" preserved in it.

With this article I will try to provide guidelines on the subject of the cellar, which may seem obvious to many long-time enthusiasts, but at the same time for many other people they will end up being invaluable suggestions to avoid wasting their sacrifices, first storing and then drinking the bottles in the best possible conditions.

In fact, even if not even the best cellar transforms a toad into a prince, staying in the "aristocratic" field it can certainly prevent a noble from decaying prematurely, and above all in a reckless way.

Ok. Let's start with two news, the first one good and the other one bad.

The good one: you can also store wine at your home, that is, without necessarily having to resort to an underground cellar in the " Ocean's Eleven Bellagio’s Caveau " style and/or without spending a fortune on motorized ventilation systems. Even if being able to count on a space built - and designed – for the wine aging would certainly be a great starting point.

The bad one: if you think that wine is an inert liquid, insensitive to external conditions (such as Coca-Cola), or that it is resistant to everything like the Vitis Vifinera from which it originates, you have taken the wrong road, and even a big one. Wine is a living element, hyper-sensitive to changes, therefore it needs care and attention.

First aspect to consider: wine is different from us, and does not like light, neither natural nor (above all) artificial light

In fact, the light activates and accelerates the oxidation processes, which are mainly responsible for the evolution and the loss of integrity of the wine, and this is the reason why the cellars are always dark, as well as the fact that the glass used for the bottle is dark color instead of transparent. Obvious, isn't it?

Therefore, if you love yourself and your bottles, find them a corner sheltered from the light, and even if you plan to add LED lights to your cellar (to make you cool with your friend), you limit its use to the minimum necessary.

 

Second aspect: wine does not like stress, so it does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature

In fact, more than a well-defined temperature (the famous 14 °C), the wine - for its correct evolution - needs to avoid temperature changes, which can stress it to the point of aging prematurely and in a rather negative way.

Of course, high temperatures are to be avoided (and for this reason the cellar is never placed close to heat sources, nor in too narrow closets that tend to overheat), but if we could keep our bottles in an environment that which, depending on the season, the temperature varies between the range 8-20 ° C and without large daily fluctuations, we could sleep peacefully.

Third aspect: don’t underestimate the importance of humidity

Humidity is a parameter that’s often not taken into consideration, also because it is not easily assessed, but I can assure you that for the purposes of preserving a wine it has an unexpected importance. In fact, even if high humidity can cause the formation of not exactly pleasant molds, both on the cork and on the labels, the opposite situation is surely worse, but it causes an excessively dry environment, which leads on the one hand to the drying of the corks (so to a premature oxidation of the wine), and on the other hand to more rapid variations in temperature.

 

Fourth aspect: wine loves silence

For this reason, avoid placing the cellar in environments or in contexts too noisy. The noise generates vibrations, which are reflected in the wine, causing bad modifications inside the bottle.

Fifth (and last) aspect: wine is a lonely "animal"

You have reached the end of the path, and you have chosen a dark and well-ventilated environment with few temperature changes for your cellar, perhaps even with good humidity and away from sources of noise. You think you are safe from problems, but perhaps you have forgotten the greatest risk, that is the wine contamination.

Wine - among other things - is like a sponge, therefore it has a tendency to absorb any form of odor, compromising its olfactory and gustatory profile.

So, it’s absolutely important to avoid to mistake the cellar for a pantry, that’s the place in which to store all types of food but also detergents or, worse, cans of paints.

Do you remember the cellars of your grandparents, those wonderful peasant environments where hams, salamis and olive oil were often stored together with wine? Have you ever wondered the reason for the countless stinks you felt in wine? Now you have the (probable) answer...

 

Before closing, one last tip, this time not about the cellar itself but on the arrangement of the bottles. Since hot air tends to rise, it’s better to place the bubbles on the lower shelves, then move on to whites, rosés (if you like them ...) and finally to reds, those that - for a variety of reasons - should be kept at slightly higher temperatures.

At this point, all that remains is to enjoy your cellar but above all many good drinks, we hope as soon as possible in the company of friends who share our same passion. Cheers!!!