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SOME HELPFUL ADVICE
Have you bought some nice wine that you
are planning keep for a special occasion
or maybe you wish to start your own
wine collection. What are the best tips
for successfully storing your wine?
Firstly, it’s useful to remember that
only a small percentage of fi ne wines
on the market benefi t from long-term
aging. Most wines are best enjoyed within
a few years of release. If you’re looking
to buy wines to mature, you should
really consider investing in a proper
wine fridge or an external wine storage
solution, but more about that later.
For everyone else, however, following a
few simple guidelines should keep your
wines safe until you’re ready to drink them.
1. KEEP IT COOL
Heat is enemy number one for wine.
Temperatures higher than 21°C will age a
wine more quickly than is usually desirable.
And if it gets too much hotter, your wine
may get “cooked,” resulting in fl at aromas
and fl avours. The ideal temperature range
is between 7°C and 18°C (and 14°C is often
cited as close to perfect), though this isn’t
an exact science. Don’t worry too much if
your storage runs a couple degrees warmer,
as long as you’re opening the bottles
within a few years from their release.
2. BUT NOT COLD
Keeping wines in your household
refrigerator is fi ne for a couple months,
but it’s not a good bet for the longer term.
The average fridge temp sits between
3 - 4°C to safely store perishable foods,
and the lack of moisture (humidity) could
eventually dry out corks, which might
allow air to seep into the bottles and
damage the wine. Keeping wine in a fridge
for a longer time will also slow down
the aging process which is not ideal.
3. CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY
More important than worrying about
achieving a perfect 12°C is avoiding the
landmines of rapid, extreme or frequent
temperature variations. Temperature
variation is likely to be more critical for
older wines where the seal of the cork
is less tight (corks lose some elasticity
WINE STORAGE GUIDE
GRCU4731-User Guide GC100 GC166.indd 25
GRCU4731-User Guide GC100 GC166.indd 25
20/9/22 5:14 pm
20/9/22 5:14 pm
