Are you a lover of wine that’s soft and smooth with subtle complex flavours dancing over your tongue? Do you get frustrated at tasting wine that’s high in acid and so tannic it feels more like your sucking on a wooden plank? Chances are you’re drinking wines far too young which means you have an expensive habit to adopt. You must start cellaring your wine.
If you’re strapped for space and can’t offer the perfect space for cellaring wines, there are ways to cut corners.
The checklist to follow
• keep your wine in a very dark place,
• it must be relatively cool place away from vibrations
• there must be no fluctuations in temperature.
Probably the biggest killer of wines is the fluctuations in the seasons we experience. Corks expand in the hot weather (pushing the wine out) and contract in the cooler weather (pulling air in). For the first year or two the corks life this shouldn’t be much of a problem as the elasticity in the cork will remain in contact, springing back into shape. Then after the next couple of years it loses its resilience, failing to expand back to its original shape. The resulting wine can start leaking out of the bottle because the seal has been weakened. You can tell if a wine has been affected by temperature fluctuations. Look for the tell tale sign of a leaking, sticky red wine substance around the cork.
If you store a wine in direct sunlight you’re also liable to get a poor outcome. Sunlight and ultra violet light over a long period of time will give the wine flat, lifeless flavours.
And what about temperature? We already know that temperature fluctuations will screw up your wine but excessive short periods of heat will literally ‘cook’ your wine too. So don’t store your wine is the boot of you car – your wine will result in flavours that when you put in your mouth will taste fat and jammy.
Whatever method you chose just remember, it will never be as perfect as a damp, musty, cool and dark hole in the ground. When you read on the back of a label; “this wine will be a joy to behold after eight years of properly stored conditions,” this is what they’re talking about. When you cut corners as above you can expect the wines to mature much more quickly so don’t try and cellar the wines for more than five years.
If you do have a few bottles of Grange kicking around however, you may want to invest in professional storage options. Places such as Millers or Kennards Storage in most capital cities have special wine sections that are perfect for your gems.
Or you can buy the wines pre-aged at auction houses like http://www.langtons.com.au/ or specialty wine sellers like http://www.unitedcellars.com.au/. You’ll be surprised to learn they are not too much more expensive than current vintage wines.
If you’re strapped for space and can’t offer the perfect space for cellaring wines, there are ways to cut corners.
The checklist to follow
• keep your wine in a very dark place,
• it must be relatively cool place away from vibrations
• there must be no fluctuations in temperature.
Probably the biggest killer of wines is the fluctuations in the seasons we experience. Corks expand in the hot weather (pushing the wine out) and contract in the cooler weather (pulling air in). For the first year or two the corks life this shouldn’t be much of a problem as the elasticity in the cork will remain in contact, springing back into shape. Then after the next couple of years it loses its resilience, failing to expand back to its original shape. The resulting wine can start leaking out of the bottle because the seal has been weakened. You can tell if a wine has been affected by temperature fluctuations. Look for the tell tale sign of a leaking, sticky red wine substance around the cork.
If you store a wine in direct sunlight you’re also liable to get a poor outcome. Sunlight and ultra violet light over a long period of time will give the wine flat, lifeless flavours.
And what about temperature? We already know that temperature fluctuations will screw up your wine but excessive short periods of heat will literally ‘cook’ your wine too. So don’t store your wine is the boot of you car – your wine will result in flavours that when you put in your mouth will taste fat and jammy.
Whatever method you chose just remember, it will never be as perfect as a damp, musty, cool and dark hole in the ground. When you read on the back of a label; “this wine will be a joy to behold after eight years of properly stored conditions,” this is what they’re talking about. When you cut corners as above you can expect the wines to mature much more quickly so don’t try and cellar the wines for more than five years.
If you do have a few bottles of Grange kicking around however, you may want to invest in professional storage options. Places such as Millers or Kennards Storage in most capital cities have special wine sections that are perfect for your gems.
Or you can buy the wines pre-aged at auction houses like http://www.langtons.com.au/ or specialty wine sellers like http://www.unitedcellars.com.au/. You’ll be surprised to learn they are not too much more expensive than current vintage wines.
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