HOW TO STORE WINE.

Selecting a wine from private cellar.

As not every wine can be aged in the bottle, neither is any place suitable for storing a good wine and keep its character intact. Before deciding whether to keep a bottle, take note of these tips.

Place: Wine needs peace and quiet to evolve over time and, just like us humans when wanting to rest, the best place for it is where there are no abrupt changes in temperature, there is little noise, excessive humidity or sudden movements. Hopefully, the rest should all take place in one and the same place so as not to alter the aging process.

Bottle's position: The best position for a bottle is lying down. In this way, the cork is always in contact with the wine and it does not dry up, as this could cause filtration. Also, it avoids further oxygen from entering and the wine will evolve quicker. Quick consumption wines may be kept upright; they also usually have shorter corks that saturate quicker.

Temperature: The temperature of the storage place must be kept constant, because any changes cause the liquid to expand or contract, which could cause the cork to pop out and then the wine will be lost. The ideal storage temperature is between 16 deg.C and 17deg.C. At this level, the wine evolves slower and better. Ideal humidity is likely to be around 70%. A drier atmosphere would cause the cork to compress and let wine out, whilst a higher one could give rise to mildew on the cork.

Light: Wines prefer darkness to daylight. Sunlight makes the reds lose their intensity of colour, whilst the whites acquire a yellowish and golden tone. The best place is a well closed cupboard, windowless room, or if you have it a cellar.

Wine Choices: Now we come to the wine choice which is the most important aspect of this feature and wine connoisseurship, as the wine must be primarily and intrinsically capable of being aged.

Cheap wine found in supermarkets, white, rose' as well as red, is usually produced to be drunk immediately, or within two years of production.

Very few white wines can be aged for a long time, for example Chardonnay and Pinot Gris are only recommended to be aged as from one (1) year up to only six (6) years for exceptionally good vintages, from the grape vintage year. Only certain white wine styles and special vinatges can be aged successfully beyond this, but of course like in everything else there are exceptions. It is known that some white wines have been aged for up to 30 years and very recently I had the opportunity to taste-test and review a superlative, Spanish white vintage wine produced in 1964 from a blend of Macabeo and Malvasia grapes. After 46 years  this wine has continuously evolved superbly into a  supelative white wine. So as I said before, there are exceptions, but these are few and far between.

Prior to buying red wine to be aged, I normally do several things and /or reviews: First is the winemaker and his vinification methods;  the next is the choice of wine, grape variety, blend and  vintage; thirdly I always buy or acquire at least two bottles of the wine that I want to keep, one bottle to be taste-tested at my leisure, blindly in comparison with similar wines, by itself, with food, etc, and the second bottle is to be aged, only if I like the wine in the first place.
I have seen various private cellars with a number of inferior wines stored in them together with some very good vintages. Wines to be aged must be bottled in glass bottles and must have the correct cork stopper.

Wine grape varietals that I choose to age up to 10 years include good vinatges produced from: Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Primitivo/Zinfandel and some other less well known grape varietals.

If I am aging wine beyond ten years than a very careful choice of a selection of the following varietals, from exceptional vintages and renowned winemakers, are made: Aglianico of Taurasi, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Nebbiolo and Syrah/Shiraz.

Other good varietals can be safely and successfully aged up to five years, and after all, wine is produced to be drunk and enjoyed so I normally have a selection of my favourite wine styles on my table all the time.