Storing Wine at the Right Temperature

It is always best to store wine in cool ambient temperatures in most of the cases. If you are looking at long term storage, then most of the bottled wines work well with a storage temperature of around 55 degrees in Fahrenheit. Why is it so very important to store the wine at those cool temperatures? Well simply put, cool temperatures decrease the ill effects of oxidation.

Remember though, that it is not necessary to lose your head over not being able to get a storage facility that can maintain the temperature at precisely 55 degrees. Also, the improvement in the quality of wine for every degree of temperature that you are able to bring down in the storage facility is only a marginal value. It is obvious that a dark are that has an approximate temperature of about 65 degrees is much better that an well lit are that has an an average of 75 degrees. However, it must be said that storing the wine in a room at 55 degrees will be only slightly better to storing it in a room at 65 degrees.

What is most important is to reduce fluctuations in the temperature in the room where the bottles wines has been stored. This is very important even if it means you have to increase the average temperature, because changes in temperature can damage the quality of the wine. Temperature fluctuations are sure to wear down the wine over time. When wine is stored in a room that has a fluctuating temperature, the wine loses character and takes on a weak aroma. This is due to the expansion and contraction that occurs along with the fluctuations in temperature.

When temperature fluctuates, the differing levels of heat expands and contracts everything in the room including the wine bottles. Along with the bottles the wine is also seen to expand and contract, although not at the same rate. It has been observed that wine expands and contracts faster than the glass bottles, which leads to a certain amount of pressure build up inside the wine bottle. The wine's aroma then might seep through the cork. This whole expanding and contracting process may also result in some amount of carbon dioxide seeping in to the wine itself through the cork which leaves a vacuum behind. This leads to a bad taste in the wine.

There will be times when you can not be sure whether or not the temperature in the storage area is stable or not. At that time, you are advised to set up some kind of monitoring system that stabilizes the room temperature. It is commonly seen that a room which is considered to be stable usually has undetected temperature variations. In bad cases, these variations can go up to 10 degrees each day. And this can, over time, spell disaster for the wine. So if you are not absolutely certain about the temperature stability of the room, you might just want to monitor it over a certain period of time to make sure that the temperature remains constant. To do that, you will have to check the temperature of the room at least two times a day, so that you can get a perfect picture on whether the temperature is stable daily or not.