Wine storage tips
Natural wine cellars are the ideal place to store wine, because of the scarce light, the lack of vibrations
and having a special climate. A wine’s temperature determines its flavour, and influences enjoyment.
Wine ageing depends on the environment conditions in which the wine is stored. By maintaining
constant optimum temperature, correct air humidity, and an atmosphere free from any odours, the
wine climate cabinet provides excellent conditions for storing your wine. It also provides an
environment free from harmful vibrations that could also affect the ageing process. Since every type
of wine has an optimum ageing time and climate, we suggest checking the recommended time to
open the bottle as advised by the winemaker.
Most people who drink wine, know you serve white wine and champagne chilled, and red wine on
room temperature. What people may not know that the "room temperature" that wine professionals
are referring to, is the temperature of wine caves in the Bordeaux region of France. Those caves are
about 55°F (13°C). A good wine climate cabinet, ideally with three temperature zones, can keep
your wines at a perfect serving temperature, reducing the guesswork and sometimes the headache.
It is very important to maintain a constant temperature within the wine climate cabinet. In case of a
power failure, open the door as little as possible to maintain the temperature in the appliance interior.
A gradual increase in temperature will not have a negative impact on the wine.
The humidity should be between 50% and 80%. Too low humidity over a longer period will result in
a dry cork. Too high humidity over a longer period will cause mold. The ASKO Wine Climate Cabinet
provides excellent ventilation with clean air which helps preventing damage to labels and corks
during storage.
The humidity levels in wine climate cabinet are particularly important for long term wine storage and
ageing. Recommended temperature for wine ageing is between 52°F (11°C) and 55°F (13°C). For
that purpose, the wine climate cabinet will maintain optimal ageing conditions and notify the user,
if the conditions deviate from them. Extremely high and low temperature settings are intended mainly
for the wine serving purposes. Wine is exposed to this conditions for shorter time periods and
therefore humidity should not have any negative effect on the wine. However, monitoring of relative
humidity levels is available regardless of the compartment temperature setting.
Major temperature changes can cause humidity levels to deviate from the desired levels and it may
take longer, e.g. about a week, for them to stabilize again. During this time, the notifications for
humidity out of zone will not appear.
Extremely diverse settings in neighboring zones, e.g. A=68°F / B=41°F / C=68°F, A=41°F / B=68°F
/ C=41°F, etc., may result in the humidity levels not reaching the desired levels in the warmer
compartments.
Wine should be stored horizontally, especially corked wines. It will keep the cork moist and swollen
and prevent wine from unwanted contact with air. Short term storage, within some weeks, storing in
tilted position is preferred to keep the cork damp. If the position is too upward, the cork will dry out.
Screw and crown caps have less demands regarding the positioning.
Serving temperature
The Three-Zone ASKO Wine Climate Cabinet also contains a Serving Area. You will have the possibility
to prepare your wine and glasses to the ultimate temperature for the wine you are about to serve. In
addition, the temperature can be adjusted according to whether the wine is to be enjoyed in the
near future, or whether it is to be stored longer-term. Your Wine Cabinet doesn't have to resemble
a science experiment, but some wines are considered to benefit from a bit of breathing space before
you drink them. You can do that by using a decanter in the special created area in the serving area.
18
Storing wine