Wine Storage Misconceptions: The Truth About Your Reds & Whites
by David L., Wine Enthusiast Companies
One of the most common misconceptions about storing wine is: reds are stored at one temperature and whites are stored at another. The truth of the matter is: reds and whites are stored at the same temperature, 53-57ËšF. (Only the serving temperatures are different.) The middle of this range, 55ËšF, is considered the holy grail of temperature grades, not too cold to impede wine maturation and not too warm to accelerate it. Temperature extremes in either direction, low or high, can ultimately spoil a good wine. Knowing the delicate nature of wine makes it easy to understand why a conventional refrigerator just doesn’t cut it as a wine storage solution; another popular misconception. To learn why a wine refrigerator or wine cellar is the best place to store your wine, read Wine Fridge Vs. Regular Fridge. What I mean by “storage,” by the way, is basically the place you keep your wine when you’re not drinking it, be it for a day, a week, or a year.
I’m always curious about where people keep their wine after they bring it home from the store. Do they leave it in the box? The fridge? The basement? Where do you keep yours? Post a comment and let me know, and if there’s anything you’d like to add to this topic, feel free! All insights are welcome.
Filed under: Wine Storage, Wine Storage Temperature
8 Responses to “Wine Storage Misconceptions: The Truth About Your Reds & Whites”
Please Wait
April 9th, 2008 at 9:35:46 AM
Shouldn’t retail shops selling wine have the wine housed in an environment that has the right temperature and humidity level? Is it just too cost prohibitive?
April 9th, 2008 at 10:42:03 AM
@Katie, great question. Ideally yes, a wine shop would keep temperatures at 55-57 with ideal humidity levels. But frankly it’s uncomfortable for customers and most shops would argue that they move wine quickly enough for the temperature/humidity levels of the store to be negligible. That may not be true everywhere though. There is a store called Moore Brothers that prides itself on keeping temps in the store at around 55, so that the wines are at home. Check’em out here, http://moorebrothersblogs.com they have a few locations. But burr, is it chilly in there!
April 14th, 2008 at 3:32:18 PM
WE just installed a 2 zone danby 166 bottle fridge. We keep the whites at 47 and the reds at 56 degrees. we do this for a reason, to drink the wines and enjoy them right out of the fridge. We have about 10 bottles of fairly expensive wines and everything else is in the $20-$30 range. We really do enjoy wines with friends on the weekends and i dont want to have to take wine out of my fridge and “Chill” it, it doesnt make sense to me. average life span for wine in our fridge, whites, one month, reds, some a few years, but most about 1 year.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:41:43 PM
I always understood that humidity is important for the cork. How about the wines that are beginning to be sold with plastic corks? Is humidity an important factor for these bottles ?
Thank you for your response.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:20:29 PM
From my understanding, humidity will not play a role in storing wines with synthetic corks or screw tops. However, most of the wines that are really meant to be stored for longer periods of time are still using the original corks, especially French and Italian wines. The Europeans seem to be very reluctant to use any other option. There is a large movement being made towards screw caps, especially in New Zealand, but for the time being the good old fashioned corks still reign supreme.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:25:17 PM
Katie,
You are correct in the assumption that retail shops should have wines stored at the appropriate temperatures, I am the B2B Consultant at the Wine Enthusiast and many of my retail clients have specific areas of their retail floors that house a few of our wine cellars , with each one specifically set for the approprioate varietal. I just vistied a client while on vacation in Las Vegas, he had a very intresting set up. Upon entering I noticed that the rear 1/2 section of the location had 9 of our wine cellars housed inside his wall ( all vented properly to an exterior room) and in each cellar he diplayed varietals from all over the world.
The setup was in the shape of a tic-tac-toe board, which was both eye-cathing and easily accesible to the customers. This was also very cost effective on clients side and a great way to move his inventory quicker
As you can see Katie, creativity & functionallity works with proper wine storage in any retail setting.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:46:59 PM
Regarding the goal of maintaining a constant 55 degrees… It is reassuring to know that no less than Chateau Margaux stores wines in buildings with ambient temperatures that vary with the seasons, changing gradually from low 50s to mid 60s degrees from winter to Summer. Their website discusses this in detail. They have vintages well over 100+ years with no apparent degradation. And Robert Parker himself has written about his controlled cellars using strict temperature parameters, and his own passive cellars with seasonal variation. He has posted on his on site that he was unable to discern any differences in wines (other than label deterioration from hi-humidity passive cellar) from the same vintage when stored for 10+ years in either cellar.
Abrupt temperature spikes and swings from low to levels above 72 degrees for hours/ days/ weeks can cook wine in time. Living in Texas or anywhere in the South, a wine fridge or controlled cellar is required for extended storage or aging. You might consider adding a battery-backed UPS on fridges containing treasures to so that an extended power outage will not pose a threat — it does take a while for a fridge full of 55 degree wine to exceed a danger-level of temps. In the Northeast, passive cellars can work to great effect, too, but you have to be certain about your storage conditions. Always good to have options. And YES the bottom line is this sort of care and concern will pay dividends down the road when you open your treasures. Cheers.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:02:54 PM
I unfortunately don’t have a basement or garage with a constant temperature that would make it easy for me to store a lot of wine at home. I have a Eurotemp wine cellar that holds about 40-50 bottles between 53 and 57°F. The other bottles at home are “stored” at room temperature - mostly whites and rosés which will be drunk within a month or two. The rest of my wine is stored in a cellar space at a constant 55°F at a wine distrbutor’s facility that also rents storage space. I make frequent trips to that location for work, so the hassle is minimal.