Are you a wine enthusiast? Do you want to build your own wine collection? Collecting wine is not just about finding the best ones out there. You must consider storage first.
Many people don’t have the money or space to devote an entire basement or a cellar for their wine collection. If you don’t store your wine properly, it can grow an unpleasant test or a wine fault. To keep your wine from wine faults, having proper storage is a must.
There are many options for storing your wine, with some new technology created just for maintaining wine quality and taste. To consider which kind of wine storage is the best for you, you must explore all your options.
Types of Storage Available
Wine Caves & Wine Cellars
Wine Caves are traditional, underground structures for wine storage. Wine caves developed from catacombs that were first used in Iran and later in Ancient Rome to store wine.
Wine caves are built in such a way that maintains the humidity and the right temperature. A cool, dark, and moderately humid environment is needed for the perfect aging of wine. Wine caves also protect wine from vibrations that disrupt the good development of wine.
Most wine “caves” belong to wineries these days and they are not literal caves but underground structures, built as inspired by caves.
Wine caves are basically exaggerated wine cellars. Wine cellars can be as simple as a temperature-controlled basement. Both these options are expensive to own and extravagant to maintain.
Wine Cellarette
Wine collarettes are basically a wooden cabinet made to keep wine secure. Wine needs to be protected from direct light and the interior of a wooden cabinet provides good conditions for wine storage.
These collarettes are just covered alcohol cabinets. These are built as a storage unit of wine and other alcohol for public places, where there are chances of theft. Some wine cellarette have a metallic lining inside to create a cooler environment for the wine.
It is a more traditional method of wine storage and mainly has aesthetic value over actual functionality. If you want to invest in a wine cellarette, you have to make sure it is well built to keep your wine in the best condition.
Refrigerator
Refrigerators are one necessary kitchen appliance that most of us have in our house. It provides a chill environment for our perishable food items.
Wine needs a cool environment away from sunlight, but are refrigerators the answer? No, the temperature inside a refrigerator is too chilly and lacks humidity to promote proper aging of wine.
The vibrations from the refrigerator are terrible for the wine, as it causes chemical reactions in it that ruins its quality and taste.
Can you keep your wine there to cool it a little before decanting? Yes, you can but you cannot store wine there for a longer period without slowing down or halting aging. Your wine won’t necessarily go bad, it just would not age.
Wine Refrigerator
There are four main reasons why a wine refrigerator is different from a regular refrigerator.
Firstly, the temperature within a wine refrigerator ranges from 45°F to 65°F, depending on the type. For example, red wine needs a temperature range of 50°F to 65°F and white wine about 45°F to 50°F. The regular refrigerator has an average temperature of 40°F which is too cold for wine aging.
The second feature that separates regular refrigerators from wine refrigerators is vibration control. They are designed to reduce vibrations that ruin the wine.
The third feature is humidity within the appliance. Wine refrigerators maintain at least 50% humidity which is needed for aging and protecting corks. Lastly, wine refrigerators’ interiors have racks, specially designed for keeping wine bottles.
Wine Coolers
Wine coolers are similar to wine refrigerators. There are mainly two types of wine coolers. Thermoelectric coolers produce fewer vibrations, however they are limited to a certain temperature, which is usually on 20°F less than the outside temperature.
Coolers with a compressor produce vibrations like a fridge, which can disturb the wine sediments. People mainly go for coolers because of two reasons, portability and price.
Wine coolers come in different varieties and most of those are portable, which makes it ideal for trips. They come at various price ranges, making them more affordable than a fridge but ideal for temporary storage.
You can also find coolers with two separate temperature compartments, where you can store red and white wine separately.
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