How To Cool Your Wine
A cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive cellars are not climate-controlled, and are usually built underground to reduce temperature swings.
An aboveground cellar is often called a wine room, while a small cellar (less than 500 bottles) is sometimes termed a wine closet.Wine cellars protect alcoholic beverages from potentially harmful external influences, providing darkness and a constant temperature. Wine is a natural, perishable food product.
Left exposed to heat, light, vibration or fluctuations in temperature and humidity, all types of wine can spoil.
When properly stored, wines not only maintain their quality but many actually improve in aroma, flavor, and complexity as they mature.The best temperature for storage should be at around 12-14 Degrees C. If you store it a temperature that is higher than this (say around 24 Deg) your wine will end up tasting fowl as it has been literally cooking in the heat. It is best to keep your wine in a wine fridge so that it doesn't go bad from dramatic changes in temperature.
If you live in a climate that has hot summers and cold winters then it is a good idea to invest in a fridge or cooler. If you leave your wine out - it will expand in the heat and contract in the cold causing the cork to move in and out of the bottle. This will allow air inside the bottle and thus damage your wine.
Air is the worst thing for wine. If you are keeping your wine in a cooler of cellar it is best to lie it down on its side to prevent the cork form becoming dry. It is also beneficial to have the labels facing up so that you can tell what the wine is without having to move it about or disturb it.
It is ok to keep your Champagne and sparkling wines standing up as the gas that is created by the bubbles in these wine acts as a natural defense to oxygen that is getting into the bottle. It is also necessary to make sure you have the right amount of humidity when storing your wine.
Like we discussed before - the cork needs to stay moist - keeping your wine at a humidity level of about 70% is optimal but between 50 and 80-% is okay as well. You normal kitchen fridge runs at 20% this is why you should not keep your wine in your fridge.
Light can also damage wine and many wine cooler reviews will often tell you about the glass door of a wine cooler that is UV protected - this is ok. Never buy a wine cooler with a basic glass door as glass readily transmits UV. Think about these things the next time you are look at a wine cooler or reading wine cooler reviews
An aboveground cellar is often called a wine room, while a small cellar (less than 500 bottles) is sometimes termed a wine closet.Wine cellars protect alcoholic beverages from potentially harmful external influences, providing darkness and a constant temperature. Wine is a natural, perishable food product.
Left exposed to heat, light, vibration or fluctuations in temperature and humidity, all types of wine can spoil.
When properly stored, wines not only maintain their quality but many actually improve in aroma, flavor, and complexity as they mature.The best temperature for storage should be at around 12-14 Degrees C. If you store it a temperature that is higher than this (say around 24 Deg) your wine will end up tasting fowl as it has been literally cooking in the heat. It is best to keep your wine in a wine fridge so that it doesn't go bad from dramatic changes in temperature.
If you live in a climate that has hot summers and cold winters then it is a good idea to invest in a fridge or cooler. If you leave your wine out - it will expand in the heat and contract in the cold causing the cork to move in and out of the bottle. This will allow air inside the bottle and thus damage your wine.
Air is the worst thing for wine. If you are keeping your wine in a cooler of cellar it is best to lie it down on its side to prevent the cork form becoming dry. It is also beneficial to have the labels facing up so that you can tell what the wine is without having to move it about or disturb it.
It is ok to keep your Champagne and sparkling wines standing up as the gas that is created by the bubbles in these wine acts as a natural defense to oxygen that is getting into the bottle. It is also necessary to make sure you have the right amount of humidity when storing your wine.
Like we discussed before - the cork needs to stay moist - keeping your wine at a humidity level of about 70% is optimal but between 50 and 80-% is okay as well. You normal kitchen fridge runs at 20% this is why you should not keep your wine in your fridge.
Light can also damage wine and many wine cooler reviews will often tell you about the glass door of a wine cooler that is UV protected - this is ok. Never buy a wine cooler with a basic glass door as glass readily transmits UV. Think about these things the next time you are look at a wine cooler or reading wine cooler reviews
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