<p>Wine lovers come in all
shapes and sizes, from those who pick up a bottle for dinner two or three times
a week to the passionate collectors with hundreds—even thousands-- of bottles
of the good stuff. And it seems everyone
has an opinion on how to handle wine so it doesn’t go bad. </p>
<p>But if you want to start
laying down cases of wine for the long haul, how do you separate proven best
practices from the myths? </p>
<p>First of all, wine
doesn’t need to be treated like butterfly wings. Except for older, more fragile wines, it’s
pretty sturdy stuff. That said there are
a few basic rules you need to observe, and we’ll pass along some tips that will
help ensure that your wine you serve your guests will taste the way the
winemaker intended.</p>
<p><span>1.
</span><b><i>Avoid fluctuating temperature</i></b>. A steady temperature—even if it is higher than
the prescribed 55F that most collectors use as a benchmark—is the most critical
factor in keeping your wine healthy. If
you keep your wine at a steady 60F it may age faster than at 55F, but you won’t
ruin it. On the other hand keeping wine
in a house or apartment where temps swing from 75F to 65F on a daily basis will
ruin your wine fairly quickly. And
whatever you do keep your wine out of the kitchen unless it is in a wine
fridge. Heat from the stove is like a
gun to the head of fine wine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>2.
</span><b><i>Avoid strong light and vibration</i></b>…the
laundry room is out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>3.
</span><b><i>Store wines with corks on their side.</i></b> Don’t want the cork drying out and letting
excessive air in that will oxidize your wines.
BTW everything we have read indicates that this isn’t an issue with
screwtops.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Heat is the enemy of
wine, so if you are collecting wine for the long haul be sure you have invested
in reliable storage. This is no place to
be penny wise and pound foolish. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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