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If wishes came true we would all be blessed with a heat regulated and air-purified wine cellar. This would give the wines the best change of aging perfectly and we wouldn’t have to worry about them at all. Sadly, not many people can afford this option and so have to make do with the facilities we have. Here is some great advice for storing your wines safely.

Location. Your bottles, both white and red wine also, are best placed in a cool room, away from the light and with moderate humidity levels. The perfect temperature to maintain your wines at is 10° to 16° C (50° to 61° F).Anything warmer than this will start to have negative effects on the quality of the wine, and a temp 25° C or more will have even more dramatic consequences on flavour. If direct sunlight can hit the bottle, this can cause bleaching of the wine as well as an increase in the temperature inside the bottle. The level of humidity in the room can cause the cork in the bottle to expand or contract. This can lead to oxidation, a common problem where air seeps into the bottle and causes the wine (over a period of time) to react with the oxygen.

Positioning. You should position the wines on their side or at a slight angle when storing them. This is because if there is not liquid in contact with the cork it can dry out and shrink. Oxidation (see previous explanation) can again result from this.

Display. Keep your wines hidden away in a dark place is not always practical. Sometimes you want to display them and show them off. A good choice is wooden wine cabinets because these tend to maintain a steady temperature and always go for one that lets you store your wines on their side.You don’t want any that well jeopardise the thermoregulation of the wine so avoid cabinets with glass panels or doors as these trap heat.