Wine Cellaring Basics

Originally published in LifeStyle Magazine, June 2009

Why would you want to cellar your wine? Why not just purchase what you need at the wine shop, bring it home and drink it that night or that weekend? Actually, statistics strongly show that’s what most people do. According to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, roughly 90% of wine purchased is consumed within just a day or two.

A wine cellars primary purpose is to age wine in ideal conditions. Those few wines that benefit from bottle ageing, roughly only about 5% of all wine produced, are going to vastly improve as the years go by. The winemakers behind these wines actually craft them to require many years to mature. If you drink them too early, you’re cheating yourself out of the wine’s full potential. Winemakers do this by creating highly tannic wines with great complexity. Complexity means there are many layers of subtle flavors and nuances that need time in the bottle to develop.

Great wines needing ten or more years to reach their potential go through three stages while ageing. First, they are “drinkable” when young, but not complex. They’re very good, but probably a bit too fruity and bold, and certainly too tannic. (Tannins are the compound in wine that makes you pucker. Just the right amount of puckering is deemed Utopian by wine lovers, but too much simply overpowers all other potential sensations.) After about one to three years, these wines go into the “dumb” stage, a long period where the youthful bold fruit subsides but the complexity has yet to develop. Don’t drink this wine. Your patience will be rewarded. Once enough time has passed the wine will develop the nuances you hear wine writers drool about.

How do you know when a great wine is ready? It’s guesswork even among experts, unless you have a whole lot of a particular wine which you can test by opening one bottle every year or two. Otherwise, rely on the advice of the winemaker or someone who has had experience with that or similar wines. Winemakers, or some representative of the winery, are happy to provide such advice as they certainly want their product appreciated at its peak.

I have several friends who purchased a case of high-end, long maturing wine from the year each of their children was born. What a wonderful way to watch your child grow as that case of wine is slowly consumed. Celebrate the child’s milestone events in her or his life by opening a bottle for those special occasions… a 21st birthday, graduation or marriage.

My wife and I have several special bottles we purchased during particularly memorable trips. Years later, it’s wonderful to recall whatever made that trip so special by breaking out the very wine brought home so long ago.

Of course, for those of you simply interested in impressing your friends (and an ego massage), what better way than to escort them into your wine cellar to select that 1997 California Cabernet you’ve been saving? “This one should compliment this evening’s filet, don’t you agree?”

How do you store your wine properly? You need not build an entire temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar, though that would be ideal. Just understand the following basic rules and you may find an appropriate place in your basement already exists. The perfect temperature for wine in waiting is 55°. This can vary up to the low 60’s without too much concern. Many below ground basements in our area will stay below 65° even on hot summer days. Humidity ideally should be 70% though this can range from about 40% to 85%. Just be sure to note its effect when you open your bottles. If your corks are dry, the humidity is too low and if they’re moldy, the humidity is too high. Always store corked bottles on their sides to keep the cork wet and sealed tightly against the glass. No need to lay down screw top bottles though. Be sure the area is completely dark and free of vibrations (like a nearby washing machine).

A subtlety many collectors miss… store your red and dessert wines nearer the ceiling (where it’s perhaps a degree warmer) and your whites nearer the cooler floor. Long-lived wines can better deal with slightly less than perfect conditions than short-lived ones. All these rules apply to either an actual wine cellar or a freestanding wine cabinet.

How old you are has much to do with your wine cellaring strategy. If you’re accumulating wine faster than you’re consuming it, then it only makes sense that you have enough years remaining to enjoy what you’ve stored away before you, um, leave the scene. I’ve known several collectors who have consciously slowed their buying pattern because they’re aware of this accumulation/consumption inevitability.

When you’re ready, you can move up to buying a temperature controlled wine cabinet, which come in all sizes. Small ones can be found at home improvement centers. Finally, there’s always the real thing… there’s nothing like walking into your own wine cellar.