Storing wine in the refrigerator at home. How to store homemade wines? Capacity and zoning
Wine is considered a very capricious drink, and even after it is bottled at the winery, it continues to mature and live its own life, constantly changing shades of taste and aroma. True connoisseurs and wine connoisseurs are convinced that unsuitable conditions can ruin the wine. If you brought back good wine from a trip abroad or were given a bottle of real Burgundy, you will probably want to save it for the right occasion to enjoy the exquisite taste of wine with friends and relatives. And you will feel regret if the wine disappoints and does not give you the promised pleasure, so it is better to find out in advance how to properly store bottled wine at home. However, proper storage conditions are important not only for rare, fine wines; young, inexpensive wines are even more sensitive to adverse external influences and can quickly turn sour. Pay attention to this issue, and the reward will be a bright aroma and a sophisticated bouquet that your guests will appreciate.
Where to store wine at home if you have a cellar
The ideal place to store wine is a wine cellar or wine cabinet, where optimal humidity, temperature and light are maintained. But if you do not own a castle or at least a large estate, or you do not have the opportunity to equip a wine library at home, you will have to find another place for wine. An ordinary cellar is suitable for these purposes if it is dark, cool and free of foreign odors. Remember that wines are afraid of sunlight and neon light, which makes the drink rancid, but if you turn on the lamp only occasionally, then there is nothing to worry about. High humidity degrades the taste of wine and leads to the formation of mold on the cork, so the cellar should be fairly dry. However, excessive dry air leads to the cork drying out, oxygen entering the bottle and rapid oxidation of the drink. The optimal humidity for storing wine is 60–80%.
Attic, apartment, refrigerator: a contradictory trinity
An ordinary attic is also suitable for wine, if there is little sun and there are no temperature changes that have a detrimental effect on the quality of the drink. At what temperature should wine be stored so that it continues to mature and does not spoil? The most suitable temperature is 10–15 °C; in warmer conditions, the wine quickly ages, loses its freshness and acquires the taste of alcohol, and in the cold it stops ripening and its taste deteriorates. You can also store wine in an apartment - in a dry room, but not in the kitchen or bathroom due to high humidity. Wine bottles feel great in minibars and in special racks - floor, table, hanging or built into cabinets. Many people ask the question whether it is possible to store wine in the refrigerator, and the answer will be negative, since low temperatures, constant vibration and the proximity of various products will ruin the wine, which easily absorbs foreign odors. You can only put an unfinished bottle in the refrigerator, which should be tightly closed.
Calm and only calm!
The wine does not tolerate shaking, which is the greatest stress for this delicate drink, so you should not move the bottles too often. In wineries, wines are stored in cellars for decades, covered with dust and cobwebs, where the bottles are not even touched, which allows the wines to ripen quietly. By the way, it is better to store wine bottles in a horizontal position so that the cork is constantly wetted by the liquid and does not dry out. Otherwise, oxygen may enter the bottle through cracks in the cork, and the wine will begin to oxidize with all the ensuing consequences.
How to store white and red wine?
There are no particular differences in the storage conditions of red and white wine, but you should be aware of some subtleties. White wines should not be stored for more than two to three years, with rare exceptions - for example, if you are lucky and have Chardonnay in your collection. In this case, you can open it even after 20 years, if, of course, you have the patience and willpower to wait that long. Red wines can be stored for up to ten years, unless we are talking about Burgundy or Bordeaux, since such wines will become even tastier and more aromatic after 100 years.
White, rose wines and champagne require lower storage temperatures, while red wines are considered less sensitive and unpretentious.
How and for how long can opened wine be stored?
A very important question is how long you can store wine after opening, when you have enjoyed the taste and aroma of the drink, but decided to save it for the next time. So, an open bottle of wine should not be stored for longer than three days. Sparkling wines fizzle out within a day. The fact is that immediately after contact with air, the oxidation process begins in the wine, which does not stop even after you close the bottle with a cork again. And if at first oxygen helps to reveal the whole bouquet of tastes and aromas, then later it has a destructive effect on the wine. The quality of open wine deteriorates hourly, but this does not apply to fortified and dessert wines with high alcohol and sugar content - they can be left in the refrigerator for a week. Opened red wine should be finished within five days, white wine should be finished within three days, as experts recommend, and in order to preserve the taste and aroma of the wine, you need to tightly cork it and cool it. Some wine experts advise pouring wine from a large bottle into a small one to force out excess air. It is best not to leave the wine, but to drink it to the end; in extreme cases, you can simply use the leftover wine for...
Wines are like people. They are born, mature, grow old and are destroyed. And they need to be stored in such a way as not to interfere with natural processes, not to speed them up or slow them down. Enjoy wine, treat your friends and family, savor every sip and enjoy life!
How to store wine? This question requires a detailed answer, touching on such subtleties as the storage temperature of wine, the possibility of preserving its taste and aromatic properties after opening the container, storage at home and much more.
High-quality wine products are produced in compliance with the strict rules of complex technology, so real natural wine of live fermentation is deservedly considered not only an exquisite drink, but also quite capricious, and knowing how to properly store wine is both a separate science and even an art!
General rules for storing wine
Without going into details, we can highlight the basic conditions on which the correct storage of wine is based:
- Absence of any light. Only dark rooms are suitable for storing wine bottles.
- A humidity level of 70% is optimal for storing wine in bottles with corks made of natural material.
- Maintaining a constant temperature at +11 °C – +14 °C. For white and sparkling wines, +11 °C is better – +12 °C for red ones is a little higher. The shelf life of wine is invariably reduced by temperature changes.
- Using special shelves for storing wine or stands to keep bottles in a horizontal position.
- Peace. It is very important to provide conditions for wine in which the bottles do not have to be shifted or disturbed in any other way.
To understand why the shelf life of wine is so closely related to these five rules, we need to look at them in more detail.
Why is “friendship” between wine and light impossible?
Winemaking flourishes in warm regions, where sweet bunches of grapes ripen under the gentle rays of the sun, but here’s the paradox: sunlight, or any other light, is destructive to wine. That is why wine is bottled in dark bottles, and especially expensive varieties are bottled in bottles with an ultraviolet filter, but even this is not enough to fully protect the product from light.
And the whole point is that light triggers and accelerates the aging process of wine, contributes to the appearance of rancidity in an aromatic drink, as a result of which its noble taste is lost irrevocably. This kind of wine will simply have to be poured out; it is impossible to drink it.
This is how wine is stored in a special wine cellar
Why do you need to maintain a certain level of humidity in storage?
The cork tree, which serves as a material for making corks, reacts very sensitively to air humidity. If the room is too dry, the cork will, accordingly, begin to dry out and shrink, not providing a tight seal on the neck of the bottle. Air begins to penetrate into the container, the wine quickly oxidizes, and its aroma evaporates.
If there is high humidity, both the cork and the label may become moldy. A bottle of expensive wine with a damaged and peeling label is not so bad, but throwing away a valuable drink because its taste and smell has begun to give off mold is quite a shame. Even with ideal humidity, the room needs good ventilation; the air in it should not be musty.
Why is the right temperature so important?
The optimal temperature for wine must be maintained constantly, in no case allowing sudden changes, otherwise the wine will deteriorate very quickly, and the cork will become unusable, maybe even crack. Elevated temperatures lead to premature aging of wine, and too low temperatures deprive it of those wonderful taste properties for which this drink is so valued.
A bottle of wine should not stand, but lie
For what reason are bottles stored horizontally?
It is no coincidence that wine storage racks are equipped with special stands that hold the bottles motionless in a lying position. This is the only way to ensure constant contact between the cork and the wine, so that it does not dry out and air does not enter the bottle.
The bottles are placed with the labels facing up not only to make it easier to determine what kind of wine is in each specific container, but also to ensure that possible sediment can be seen through the transparent bottom side without causing much concern to the wine. By the way, its presence does not necessarily indicate low quality of the product, quite the opposite: sediment appears quite often in wines of expensive collection varieties.
Why does wine need rest so much?
As already mentioned, good natural wine is a living drink. Processes are constantly taking place inside the bottles, the wine is changing, maturing, while remaining extremely sensitive not only to shocks, but also to vibrations. In order not to disturb the wine once again and not to disturb the natural course of its life, experienced collectors do not even wipe off the dust or brush away the cobwebs from the bottles, protecting their peace.
For long-term storage, it is better to purchase a wine refrigerator; for short-term storage, a rack is suitable
Can wine be stored for a long time?
Not all types of wine can be stored for a long time; for example, young wine is best consumed as soon as possible after its production. The shelf life of white wine is usually no longer than three years from the date of release, with the exception of some varieties. But the lifespan of red wine can be tens of years.
The record holders for the longest shelf life are the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, the real dream and pride of every collector. These wines can even outlive their owner, because they can be stored for up to a hundred years. Contrary to popular belief, not all wines get better with age, so it is important to know whether each specific bottle of wine is worth sending for long-term storage in the collection. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to drink it soon at a romantic dinner or in the company of dear friends.
Many lovers of good wines make good investments by purchasing rare and expensive varieties with a short aging period, and leave them in storage for one or several decades, during which the cost of the exhibits increases to fabulous sums.
Red wine can be stored for decades
Storage space
Where to store wine? This question does not arise in cases where we are talking about placing several bottles of wine purchased for an upcoming celebration. If you decide to collect a large collection of good wines, then you will have to approach the arrangement of the storage facility very thoroughly.
The phrase “wine cellar” always exudes the romance of antiquity and even some mystery. Stone walls immediately appear before your mind's eye, along which stretch wooden cellular shelves filled with dusty narrow-necked bottles, and on the floor there are huge oak barrels and pot-bellied jugs. Of course, an equipped cellar is the best answer to the question of how to store wine.
Unfortunately, not everyone can boast of having a wine cellar, so many are puzzled by the problem: how to store wine at home, and is it possible to store wine in the refrigerator at a suitable temperature?
I would like to say right away that the refrigerator is not suitable for long-term storage, since light and vibration will have a detrimental effect on the wine in it, and it will also quickly absorb the odors of products lying on neighboring shelves.
You can purchase a cabinet for storing wine, inside which the desired microclimate will be automatically maintained. This thing, of course, is not cheap and takes up quite a lot of space, but for a large collection of expensive wine brands you cannot find a better option at home.
You can simply wrap a couple of bottles in dark paper and put them in a box, and put it away in a cool, dark place.
Wine storage containers
The classic and best option is dark glass bottles, in which wine is usually sold. Some people wonder whether it is possible to store wine in plastic bottles. The answer is negative!
A bottle or other plastic container is a completely unsuitable container for storing wine. This material has an unpleasant specific odor, and wine is a product that very quickly absorbs all extraneous aromas. Do you want to drink a “plastic” drink?
For example, dry wine stored in plastic can become completely disgusting. Even vodka, if it was in a plastic bottle, will change the taste not for the better. Why spoil the good quality of expensive wine and vodka products?
Elite distilleries store large volumes of drinks in wooden barrels; moreover, not all types of wood are suitable for the manufacture of such containers. Some people use stainless steel cookware. Wine material is often left in it for fermentation during wine production in factories or at home.
When asked whether it is possible to store homemade wine in plastic bottles, the answer will be similar: it is possible, but not necessary!
Sparkling wine in storage
Conditions for homemade wine
How to store homemade wine? Are there any features and subtleties? There are craftsmen who produce simply wonderful homemade wines by fermenting berries or fruits, and in a good year they can produce quite a lot of such wine.
Storing homemade wine, in general, does not differ from the conditions in which factory-made drinks are stored, but you should not preserve it for decades, since it does not have such a long shelf life. However, there are subtleties that allow you to solve the problem of how to store homemade wine for the longest period of time:
- use dry, sterile, dark glass bottles;
- seal them with natural sterilized stoppers;
- store in a cool, dark place.
Note: fortified and dessert wines last longer than others.
What to do with an open bottle?
How long can opened wine be stored without harming its quality? It happens that the drink is not completely drunk, and you want to save the rest for later. Connoisseurs, when asked how to store opened wine, answer: “not for long!”
In this situation, a refrigerator for storing wine will be just necessary, because at a low temperature the wine will not oxidize too quickly if it is properly corked. Still, a week is the maximum period.
Every day the taste of the wine will deteriorate irreparably, so it is better not to store opened bottles for more than a day. Some use special pumps to create a partial vacuum in the bottle, but the aromas of the wine itself evaporate along with the air. It would be much better to simply pour it into a smaller container, “under the neck”; this method is more effective.
Interesting: the oldest wines can lose their unique bouquet literally in a few minutes after opening the bottle!
What is organoleptics
Organoleptics - determining the quality of wine without laboratory experiments. Organoleptic analysis, based on the study of wine using the senses (vision, smell, touch, taste and even hearing), can be carried out by an experienced sommelier. It only takes a minute for such a person to verify the quality of the fermentation product and draw a conclusion about what is in the glass: real wine or a surrogate.
Wine is also famous for the fact that it requires the right food: meat or cheese, nuts or seafood. For example, crabs, lobsters or our usual crayfish are quite suitable for white, if, of course, they are of high quality and fresh, and not from the day before yesterday. , read the special material on our website.
Wine storage as part of the interior. Video
People who evaluate grapes, design plantations and organize the distribution of wine products are called oenologists. Without them, the most expensive and prestigious brands would not have gained their fame. From professional consultants we learned everything about wine and, in particular, whether wine can spoil and how to avoid it. Let's look at how to properly store wine at home.
How to store wine - terms, temperature, conditions
Thanks to the correct presentation of information in magazines and on Internet sites, consumers learn to choose only high-quality wines. And this is the best punishment for unscrupulous manufacturers. But wine is an unstable product and requires some caution in handling. If the storage conditions of wine are violated, the physical and chemical characteristics and properties of the drink begin to change quickly.
How can you tell if wine has gone bad?
You can recognize it by the cloudy color and tiny bubbles in the bottle - this is evidence of the beginning of the second fermentation. Spoiled wine tastes rough and harsh, reeking of vinegar. The smell of missing wine brings back images of medical offices. Improperly stored wine will not cause serious harm to health, but it will not provide the expected pleasure either.
What affects the shelf life of wine?
Let's consider the key points that to a certain extent affect the life (shelf life) of red and white wine.
Bottle position
The correct position of a wine bottle during storage is horizontal, this improves the organoleptic qualities of the wine. And it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about storing wine in bottles, barrels, cans or large bottles. The wine should not be subject to vibration. Those. After purchasing or preparing wine, the bottles must be securely fixed in the wine cabinet, on a rack or shelves with stands in a secluded place where the sun and moderate air temperature do not reach.
In bottles that are stored vertically, which is incorrect, the wine dries out faster and the natural cork cracks. The closure of the wine ceases to be airtight. Evaporation occurs.
All kinds of bacteria live in the pores of cortical (plant) plugs. And if the closure and storage conditions of the wine were violated (for example, high humidity), mold may appear on the cork.
If, after removing the protective capsule from the neck of a wine bottle, signs of mold are found, do not throw away the wine. This happens sometimes. You need to carefully pull out the cork and check the contents; as a rule, mold damages only the upper part of the cork. Most likely, the wine should be normal.
Attention! If you buy wine with corks made of agglomerates or plastic, keep in mind that such wine cannot be stored for a long time. Due to their structure, plastic corks noticeably spoil the taste of wine and do not allow it to breathe, which means it cannot be fully stored. Therefore, if you choose wine for long-term storage, buy bottles that are sealed with natural cork. True, there is one chance in 20 that in a few years the wine will be spoiled by this very cork.
Wine storage temperature
Looking through the latest trends in kitchen design, you will notice that wine racks in the interior are a very popular decorative element. At first glance, it seems that all the rules have been taken into account: the wine lies in a horizontal position, and is not exposed to direct sunlight. But no matter how original and beautiful these designer racks look, they are not suitable for storing bottles of wine. Due to room temperature. In the kitchen, a room in which the stove and oven are constantly working, it is simply impossible to ensure a constant 10-16 degrees.
At what temperature should wine be stored?
According to the rules, you need to store wine at home in a cool place, with a constant temperature without sudden changes.
- Storage temperature for red and white dry wine – 10-12 °C
- Storage temperature for red and white dessert wines – 14-16 °C
In city apartments, the storage space can be a small cabinet in the kitchen, located in the wall under the window, away from heating radiators and ovens. If organizing a window-sill refrigerator is not possible, then you need to purchase a climate-controlled wine cabinet. Only this will provide wine bottles with ideal conditions for storage at home.
The photo shows a refrigerated wine cabinet with shelves Gemlux GL-WC-8W and GL-WC-21C
Built-in cabinets make storing bottled wine at home very easy. If there is a lack of free space in the apartment, a small wine refrigerator with a glass display shelf guarantees optimal storage conditions. A built-in wine cabinet can be mounted in a kitchen island niche or shelving unit. Silent and compact equipment will create the conditions of a real French cellar at home and will allow you to store drinks made for long-term storage for maturation.
If the desire to create a “wine honeycomb” at home is great, then designers recommend using dummies instead of real bottles. Or a beautiful container of wine that you drank a long time ago. Examples of design of storage spaces in the photo:
Can wine be stored in the refrigerator?
In ordinary refrigerators, only open wine is stored, which has been uncorked but not had time to drink. To do this, they are closed with a vacuum stopper and, without loss of quality, quietly left for two or three days, but no more.
Firstly, the shelf life of opened red wine is no more than 5 days, white wine is up to 3 days, and sparkling wine is 1 day (it expires). The oxidation processes that occur when oxygen is available are to blame, and even if you close the bottle they do not stop. But, there is a caveat here: dessert and fortified wines, with a high content of sugar and alcohol, can be stored longer after opening - about a week.
Secondly, low temperature in a household refrigerator (usually + 3-6°C), vibration and foreign odors will speed up the process.
Unfortunately, even closed bottles cannot be stored in a regular refrigerator due to the low temperature and constant vibration. Shaking damages the preservation of wine.
Is it possible to store wine on the balcony?
It is forbidden. There are several reasons for this:
Winter storage
At sub-zero temperatures, wine on the balcony or loggia may simply freeze. After thawing, frozen wine is not recommended to be taken orally, but can be used for culinary purposes, for example, stewing meat or making sauce.
It is not recommended to store sealed bottles below +8 °C. At low temperatures, precipitation of sedimentary taratrates – “tartar” – is possible. Again, such sediment is useful and valuable for culinary use. Cream of tartar is added to whipped egg whites and is actively used for baking meringues.
Summer storage
The temperature inside a glazed balcony can exceed 40 degrees. At best, the heat will add an alcoholic taste to the drink in a few days; at worst, it will turn the wine into vinegar.
The question arises. How, then, is wine stored in restaurants on summer terraces? During the hot season, trust only those establishments where wine is stored not on open bar shelves, but in specially equipped display cases or racks.
The wine menu in some large restaurants resembles a thick art book. Flipping through such a wine list is incredibly interesting, but it’s even more interesting to find out how all this wine is stored. So, elite establishments never allow themselves to store expensive aged wines right in the hall. To do this, they have basements equipped with everything necessary with a stable microclimate. But on the open shelves of wine houses there is always a place for young wine, red, white and rose. This creates an atmosphere in the room and prevents the drink from sitting for a long time (young wine is a hot commodity).
At home, if the dimensions of the apartment allow, you can also organize real storage behind glass.
The photo shows a glass wine room with a thermal cabinet for storing and tasting wines. Being in a cool environment, even at home, the wine continues to breathe and develop.
Wine storage conditions
One of the main factors for proper storage of wine is darkness. If only because wine is a living drink and, as it matures, changes its qualities throughout the entire aging period. Direct sunlight or too bright light from daylight lamps provoke an acceleration of oxidation processes. And if ultraviolet radiation is vitally important and beneficial for the berries from which wine is made, then it only harms the finished drink.
Attention! The place for storing wine should be dark, but with natural air circulation.
How does humidity affect the quality of wine storage?
Wine will not lose its nutritional, valuable and gastronomic properties if it is stored in a basement or refrigerator with a humidity of 50-70%.
High humidity will lead to the formation of mold on the corks, and low humidity will lead to drying out of the natural cork, which in turn will affect the tightness of the bottle closure (air will leak in and the process of wine oxidation will begin).
Monitoring humidity levels and temperatures in your wine storage cabinets or racks is easy with the built-in hydrometer and thermometer.
Wine refrigerators already have built-in systems that can maintain not only the set temperature, but also the humidity level.
Questions about storing wine that are most often asked at tastings:
How to store young wine?
There is no point in storing some alcoholic drinks for a long time. Thus, young red or white dry wine, unclarified, of high quality and not scratched by filter elements, is not hidden in wine cabinets and is not collected. They just drink it. And if you brought home a bottle of aromatic table nutmeg, then do not put it in storage, but take the opportunity and invite friends. The brightness of a young wine fades quickly. This is the law of nature. Material prepared for the website www.site
In the photo there is a bottle of Chardonnay - an ordinary dry wine, which was bottled without long-term aging and which is not customary to be stored for a long time.
How long can dessert wines be stored?
Before storing dessert wine, pay attention to the date. Is the wine two years old and nearing the end of its shelf life? There is a risk that the bottle was handled incorrectly (stored, transported) and this significantly deteriorated the quality of the drink. You can no longer keep it in a glass container. It will rapidly degrade, lose its juiciness and fruity freshness, without gaining anything in return.
Storage temperature for dessert wine is 14-16 degrees
How to store Madeira?
A fortified wine with a recognizable caramel taste with smoky notes only becomes more refined over time. It's all about adding alcohol, which prevents the drink from turning sour, even if the open bottle is stored for more than six months. Moreover, specimens that are aged for 50-100 years are now sold on the market.
It is important! Real Spanish Madeira cannot be stored vertically, like other wines. The contents of the bottle may be damaged due to contact with the cork, which deteriorates faster than the made wine itself.
Madera storage temperature is 16 degrees.
What should you not store wine in?
Storing wine in plastic containers is not permitted. Plastic bottles allow oxygen to pass through perfectly. As a result, oxidative processes are started, the wine begins to re-ferment and quickly deteriorates.
Homemade wine can be stored in glass jars for preservation. Provided that they are rolled up not with metal lids, but with glass ones with a silicone seal. Of course, this storage method has significant drawbacks, but if you compare it with storage in plastic containers, it turns out that homemade wine will easily last 3-7 months in glass containers without the risk of oxidation.
Is it possible to store wine after its expiration date?
Some wines have the potential to only improve their taste and organoleptic qualities with age. They do not require oxygen to mature in the bottle.
But, attention! This statement has nothing to do with supermarket wines. Only Collection wines are subjected to oxygen-free aging, based on the prospects for their development in the bottle over the years. Store-bought wines are generally “not outstanding” and should be drunk within the time frame specified by the manufacturer on the label.
Where to store wine?
Where is better - in the basement or in a wine cabinet with a refrigerator?
If you live outside the city in a cottage or country house, then the ideal place for storage would be a cellar lined with natural stone. There should be no problems with ventilation, humidity and cleanliness.
If there is no cellar-basement, a specialized refrigerated cabinet would be an excellent replacement.
Advantages of a wine cabinet:
- the bottles are in a static position;
- the glass door is tinted so that ultraviolet rays do not penetrate inside;
- stable temperature is maintained;
- humidity is not less than 60 and not more than 80%;
- fresh air constantly circulates.
For novice collectors, the best gift would be a multi-temperature wine cooler. This device has several chambers, for each of which you can select its own climate mode.
The photo shows Climadiff wine cabinets of simple design with adjustable, removable shelves and a precise thermostat. The two-zone refrigerator has a capacity of 89 bottles, and the three-zone refrigerator has a capacity of 70 bottles.
How to store champagne and sparkling wines at home?
The principles of storing champagne include mandatory compliance with all of the above requirements, taking into account that the drink has a short shelf life. Moet & Chandon or Veuve Clicquo will not lose their original taste if after purchase you put the bottles in a wine refrigerator at a temperature of 10 degrees.
An open bottle of champagne or sparkling wine can be kept in the home refrigerator for a maximum of 1 day, tightly sealed with a vacuum stopper. But there is no guarantee that the wine will not lose its aroma within 24 hours. Therefore, it is better to immediately pour the drink into glasses and not tempt fate.
Storing wine underwater
An innovation you may not have known about yet.
Storing wine in sea water at a pressure of about 20 atmospheres at a depth of 20 meters and a temperature of 11 to 15 ° C was invented in Spain. The idea of aging wine at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay (northern Spain, Basque country) came to oenologist Antonio Palacios after visiting auctions where amphoras and bottles of wine discovered in long-sunk ships were sold for huge sums of money. During the research process, the scientist came up with an idea that took a whole year to implement.
At the bottom, under the water column, the bottles are in a horizontal position and closed with special stoppers, which allow the wine to “breathe”.
The approximate price for a bottle of red, raised to land from the bottom after nine months of storage, is 180 euros.
Wine is the essence of pleasure and deserves proper storage. You can create optimal conditions at home even in the simplest apartment.
Wine is a “demanding” type of alcohol. Even when enclosed in a bottle, it continues to “grow up”, changing its bouquet. Experts are unanimous in their opinion that incorrect storage conditions can ruin this drink. To avoid this, it is important to take into account many nuances: can opened wine be stored in the refrigerator, at what temperature and in what lighting is it best to keep the container, what is the expiration date of the intoxicating drink? You will find the answers in this article.
Can opened wine be stored in the refrigerator?
How to store an open bottle of wine?
According to experts, the optimal place to store wine is a cellar. Grape drink does not tolerate exposure to sunlight. Under the influence of bright light it becomes rancid.
An important condition for storing bottles is the correct humidity: from 60 to 80%. Over-dried air leads to the drying out of the cork and the beginning of the oxidation process; too humid air promotes the formation of mold.
The optimal temperature for storing this noble drink is from 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. In the cold, alcohol begins to “age”, which negatively affects its bouquet; in warmth, it loses its freshness, and an unpleasant aftertaste of alcohol appears
The optimal place for a grape drink in a city apartment is a specially equipped wine cabinet. When thinking about where to store an open bottle of wine, the refrigerator is often the choice. His camera is not the best idea for noble alcohol. The negative influence of low temperatures, vibrations, and strong foreign odors affects.
If wine sits in the refrigerator for several months, it will significantly lose its taste. You will not feel the delicate bouquet and exquisite aroma. You can put an already opened but carefully sealed bottle in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Grape alcohol has a limited shelf life. White wines should not be stored for more than 2–3 years
The only exception to this rule is the Chardonnay variety. Experts believe that the intoxicating drink made from these grapes only improves its taste over the years.
The shelf life of red wines is 10 years. After this period, they significantly lose their taste and aroma. There are two exceptions to this rule: Bordeaux and Burgundy have not lost their consumer properties for more than a century. Over time they only improve.