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Welcome to Kerry Wines!
Here are some tips on how to store your wine.
Heat is the major enemy of wine. High temperatures will age a wine more quickly than is usually desirable. Wine can become “cooked,” which affects its flavour and longevity. The ideal temperature is around 13° C, but anywhere between 7° C and 15° C is fine.
The refrigerator is not a very good place to keep wine: The smells from the food, the lack of moisture (leading to corks drying out which might allow air to seep into the bottle) and the constant vibration make it an unfriendly place in which to store wine.
More important than keeping the wine cool, is the importance of avoiding rapid, extreme or frequent temperature fluctuations. As well as being “cooked”, the expansion and contraction of the wine can push the cork out, and lead to seepage. This does not necessarily mean the wine is damaged, so it’s always worth drinking it to check!
Light, especially sunlight, can pose a potential problem for long-term storage. The sun’s UV rays can degrade and prematurely age wine. Most coloured wine bottles contain UV protection, but the wine will be affected if subjected to excessive light.
Dry conditions can lead to the drying out of corks. This can break the seal thus damaging the wine. With the increase in the number of screw cap wines, this has become less of a problem than in the past.
However, for long-term storage, we recommend you try to maintain humidity anywhere from 50% to 80%. To help you achieve that you can place a glass of water in your storage area.
Traditionally, bottles have been stored on their sides in order to keep the cork in contact with the wine. This keeps the cork moist which should keep the cork from drying out, and shrinking, thus not being air tight. When wine comes in contact with air it begins to oxidize and the flavours begin to spoil.
Vibration damages wine in the long-term by speeding up the chemical reactions in the liquid, or stopping the sediment from settling. This means for example that the fridge, or near a washing machine should be avoided.
The ideal conditions are going to be in a wine fridge / cooler kept in a dark place.