Storing :

For a wine lover, a cellar is a necessity. Fine wines are worth paying extra for only if you can store and eventually serve them in good condition. Rarely are wines cellars part of the standard blueprint. So finding the appropriate place to store wine is an issue for almost everyone. A little ingenuity may be required. The principles behind storing wine are not complex, difficult to understand or necessarily difficult to achieve. And if you can't achieve them all, some of them are better than none.

Let's begin with the ideal. From here, you can then try to approach the ideal as close as you are able. You're looking to achieve balance and consistency.

Wine is alive. As such it reacts either positively or negatively to its environment. How it is treated will determine how fast or slow it will age and how it will turn out in the end. Essentially, wine needs to be kept in a clean, dark, damp place with good ventilation, where it can be stored vibration free at a constant temperature.

Temperature is the most important factor and the factor that should be sought after above all others. The optimum temperature is 50 to 55°F (10-12°C). However, any constant temperature within 40-65°F (5-18°C) will do. More important than the actual temperature you will be able to achieve, is the degree and rapidity of fluctuation the wine is subjected to.

Moderate humidity is important so as to keep the corks in good resilient condition and thereby preventing them from shrinking. A relative humidity of 50-80% is the acceptable range, but about 70% is recommended.

Light will prematurely age a bottle of wine. Naturally, clear bottles are most susceptible to this problem, but ultraviolet light will penetrate even dark colored glass. Ultraviolet light may give wine unpleasant aromas and ruin it.

Table wine is stored horizontally so that the wine stays in contact with the cork. This keeps the cork moist thereby preventing air from entering the wine. Fortified wines other than port, are stored standing.