It is essential to store your wine in the correct place and in the right conditions. Do you know that wine should be kept at a different temperature for each type? This will affect the wine’s taste and help it age well. Properly cooling your wine can make it easier to store it.
The market is flooded with different types of coolers today. It is essential to understand the differences between these coolers and pay close attention to their features. That is why I suggest not saving money on a good wine fridge.
The Best Wine Storage Conditions
When it comes to wine these are the worst enemies:
- Heat
- Direct sunlight
- High humidity
- Shaking
Although you are sure to have heard of all the hazards mentioned above, it is essential to recall the main points to refresh your memory and possibly learn new ones. Did you know about shaking? This topic will be covered in more detail, so please keep reading.
Here are some of the basics that will save you time, wine, and money.
- Your wine should be kept cool, just not too cold. It is important to set the temperature that is right for your wine. Each type of wine has a different limit. Don’t worry; we will provide a table showing temperatures later in the article.
- Temperature swings are never good for your wine so make sure there aren’t any. This could cause the wine to bubble and push the cork out. Don’t panic just yet. Wine bottles must be subject to extreme temperature swings when being transported from the farmer to their destination. It doesn’t affect the taste or other properties.
- Make sure there are no direct UV light rays anywhere because this can cause the wine to age prematurely and damage it.
- It would help if you also considered the humidity. The right amount of humidity is crucial as the cork may dry out and allow air to enter the bottle. You can set the humidity level to 70%. This will prevent oxidization.
- Orientation matters – your bottle should always be placed horizontally. According to experts, this will allow the wine to wash the cork and prevent it from drying out. The orientation of the cork doesn’t matter if the wine is ready for consumption within a few days. You don’t have to store the wine horizontally if there is another type of cork, such as a rubber or plastic one (if we are talking about short-term storage).
- Try to avoid any vibration, especially with old collectible wines stored in your wine fridge. This can increase the chemical reactions, which you don’t want because it will give you extra flavor. This is what you don’t want to have with your wine. It won’t hurt if there is a slight vibration every once in a while.
Best wine storage temperatures & ideal temperature wine should be served?
Many people believe that wine should be stored in a regular refrigerator and then served cooled. To make the wine colder, some people add ice cubes to it.
Below you will find a table that is easy to print, and taped to your fridge. If you only have one selection of wine, such as white or red, it is possible to set the temperature immediately and forget about it. The below table will indicate temperatures for any wine (red and white wine).
With a dual-zone refrigerator, you will be able to set temperature settings based on the table to get the best wine flavor.
Wine | Temperature in Fahrenheit | Temperature in Celcius |
Madeira, Vintage Port | 66.2 °F | 19°C |
Shiraz, Bordeaux | 64.4 °F | 18°C |
Cabernet, Red Burgundy | 62.6 °F | 17°C |
Pinot Noir, Rioja | 60.8 °F | 16°C |
Zinfandel, Chianti | 59 °F | 15°C |
Rosé, Beaujolais | 53.6 °F | 12°C |
Sauternes, Viognier | 51.8 °F | 11°C |
Chardonnay | 48.2 °F | 9°C |
Riesling | 46.4 °F | 8°C |
Sparkling & dessert wines, Champagne | 44.6 °F | 7°C |
How to store your wine collection in a cooler
On our blog, we have written an extensive review of wine coolers to suit every collector. You can get a variety of sizes and different characteristics at a very reasonable price.
If you have limited space or a small collection, a single-zone cooler might be something you’d like. You will eventually get a larger, dual-zone refrigerator as your collection grows. It would be best if you remembered that single-zone fridges only allow you to set one temperature. As you can see, each wine is different. You should set it at 54 degrees F (12ºC), and it will be perfect.
Dual-zone coolers can also be purchased and they take up more space than the smaller single-zone cooler. However, you can have different temperatures on different levels. You are able to set the temperature in one zone to 66 degrees F (19ºC) and the other to 45 degrees F (7ºC). It’s incredible.
So even if you have different types of wine collection dual zone wine cooler would be the option I would opt for. It just makes it easier to manage wine temperatures for different wines.
Long term storage temperature
It is up to you to determine what would be the temperature range in your cooler, but you are always limited on how high and low you can go. The highest you can go is 67 degrees F (19ºC), and the lowest you can go is 45 degrees F (7ºC)
You can adjust the temperature of each fridge to make sure everything is just right. You can keep your wine at the perfect temperature for many years.
To bring this information back to life and emphasize its importance, let’s highlight the temperature at which white wine should be stored and the temperature at which red wine should be kept cool.
Tip: White wine should be kept at min: forty-five degrees F (7ºC) or max. Fifty degrees (11ºC), while red wine should be kept at min. Fifty degrees F (11ºC), or max. Sixty-five degrees (18ºC).
The bottom line
Since not everyone has the space to make a wine cellar, a wine cooler is an excellent investment if you’re an enormous wine enthusiast like we are.
It doesn’t matter how many bottles of wine you have; it is up to you to keep them all in good taste. A wine fridge is another way to show self-love.
Let us imagine returning home from work to find your wine fridge full of wine. You can open, smell and taste the wine at the perfect temperature. You can make magic with wine by setting the right temperature.
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