We already know how to serve wine and how to pair it with food to delight our guests and impress them with our apparent expertise. But how much do we know about how to store it? The place we keep our wine is of fundamental importance. Today, very few of us have a proper cellar for storing wine and allowing it rest for a suitable amount of time. What can we do to avoid the risk of our wine only being fit for the kitchen sink once we uncork it?
Here are four easy solutions anyone can adopt for storing wine at home:
1. Look for a place or room which is closest to having the following conditions: 12/16 degrees all year round, 70/75% humidity, the possibility to store the bottles where they are not directly exposed to the sun or neon lighting.
2. At a moderate cost, it is possible to purchase a controlled temperature wine cellar which, as well as keeping our wine in optimal conditions, also provides an attractive element of furnishing.
3. Purchase wine from your trusted dealer only as and when you need it for a particular occasion or, at the most, a few days beforehand.
4. If you have a garden, take a wooden crate (a fruit crate will do), fill it with bottles and cover with sand, taking care to dampen the sand from time to time. This will keep your wine in perfect condition. This is an ideal solution also for those who like to enjoy good wine even when they are in “less conventional” places such as on board a boat, at a seaside home or on a camping site.