Storage is an important consideration for any wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 that is being kept for long-term aging. While most wine produced today is meant for near-term consumption (with much being consumed within 24 hours of purchase), there are certain situations in which it may be set aside for long-term storage. Wine is one of the few commodities that can improve with age but it can also rapidly deteriorate if kept in inadequate conditions. The three factors that have the most direct impact on a wine's condition are light

Light

Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...

, humidity

Humidity

Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...

 and temperature

Temperature

Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

. A fourth consideration can be security

Security

Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...

, since wine can be considered a luxury good

Luxury good

Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...

 with value on the after-market. Historically the long-term storage of wine was handled by wine merchants but since the mid 20th century the task of handling and storing wine has increasingly fallen to consumers. Industries relating to specialty wine storage facilities and the construction of home-based wine cellar

Wine cellar

A wine 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 wine cellars are not...

s have emerged to cater to the storage needs of consumers.

Conditions affecting wine

In wine storage conditions, there are three factors that have the most pronounced effect on the wine: light, humidity and temperature.

Light

Strong direct light, whether it be sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

 or incandescent

Incandescent light bulb

The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...

, can adversely react with phenolic compounds in the wine and create potential wine faults. Delicate, light-bodied white wines run the greatest risk from light exposure and are often packaged in darkly tinted wine bottle

Wine bottle

A wine bottle is a bottle used for holding wine, generally made of glass. Some wines are fermented in the bottle, others are bottled only after fermentation. They come in a large variety of sizes, several named for Biblical kings and other figures. The standard bottle contains 750 ml,...

s that offer some protection from the light. Wines packaged in clear, light green and blue colored bottles are the most vulnerable to light and may need extra precautions for storage. For example, the Champagne house of Louis Roederer

Louis Roederer

Louis Roederer is a producer of champagne based in Reims, France. Founded in 1776, it was inherited and renamed by Louis Roederer in 1833, and is noted as the producer of the luxury champagne Cristal.-History:...

 uses cellophane

Cellophane

Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria and water makes it useful for food packaging...

 wrap to protect its premium cuvee

Cuvee

Cuvée is a French wine term derived from cuve, meaning vat or tank. The term cuvée is used with several different meanings, more or less based on the concept of a tank of wine put to some purpose:...

Cristal  from light, the wine being packaged in a clear bottle. In the cellar, wines are stored in corrugated box

Box

Box describes a variety of containers and receptacles for permanent use as storage, or for temporary use often for transporting contents. The word derives from the Greek πύξος , "box, boxwood"....

es or wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

en crates to protect the wines from direct light.

Humidity

Some degree of humidity is required in order to keep wines with cork

Cork (material)

Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...

 enclosures from drying out. Even when wine bottles are stored on their sides, one side of the cork is still exposed to air. If the cork begins to dry out, it can allow oxygen to enter the bottle, filling the ullage

Ullage (wine)

Ullage is a winemaking term that has several meanings but most commonly refers to the headspace of air between wine and the top of the container that it is in...

 space and possibly causing the wine to spoil or oxidize. Excessive humidity can also pose the risk of damaging wine label

Wine label

Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...

s, which may hinder identification or hurt potential resale value. Wine experts such as Jancis Robinson

Jancis Robinson

Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and editor of wine literature. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website jancisrobinson.com...

 note that 75% humidity is often cited as ideal but there is very little significant research to definitively establish an optimal range. Concern about humidity is one of the primary reasons why wine experts such as Tom Stevenson

Tom Stevenson

Tom Stevenson is a British author who has been writing about wine for more than 30 years. Described by his colleagues as one of today’s most prolific wine authors, Stevenson is regarded as the world’s leading authority on Champagne...

 recommends that wine should not be kept in a refrigerator

Refrigerator

A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...

 since the refrigeration process often includes dehumidifying, which can quickly dry out corks.

Some wine experts debate the importance of humidity for proper wine storage. In the Wine Spectator

Wine Spectator

Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces...

, writer Matt Kramer cites a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 study which claimed that the relative humidity

Relative humidity

Relative humidity is a term used to describe the amount of water vapor in a mixture of air and water vapor. It is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor in the air-water mixture, given as a percentage of the saturated vapor pressure under those conditions...

 within a bottle is maintained at 100% regardless of the closure used or the orientation of the bottle. However, Alexis Lichine

Alexis Lichine

Alexis Lichine was a Russian wine writer and entrepreneur. He played a key role in promoting varietal labelling of wine, was a masterful salesman of wine, and owned Château Prieuré-Lichine and a share of Château Lascombes in the Médoc. He was married to actress Arlene Dahl from 1964 to...

 contends that low humidity can still be detrimental to premium wine quality due to the risk of the cork drying out. As a way of maintaining optimal humidity, Lichine recommends spreading half an inch of gravel on the floor of a wine cellar and periodically sprinkling it with some water.

Temperature

Wine is very susceptible to changes in temperature, with temperature control being an important consideration in wine storage. If the wine is exposed to too high a temperature (in excess of 77 °F (25 °C)) for long periods of time, it may become spoilt or "cooked" and develop off flavors that taste raisin

Raisin

Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...

y or stewed. The exact length of time that a wine is at risk of exposure to high temperatures will vary depending on the wine, with some wines (such as Madeira which is exposed to high temperatures during its winemaking

Winemaking

Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...

) being able to sustain exposure to high temperatures more easily than other, more delicate wines (such as Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

). If the wine is exposed to temperatures that are too cold, the wine can freeze and expand, causing the cork to be pushed out; this will allow more oxygen to be exposed to the wine. Dramatic temperature swings (such as repeated transferring a wine from a warm room to a cool refrigerator) can also cause adverse chemical reactions in the wine that may lead to a variety of wine faults. Most experts, such as Jancis Robinson, recommend that wine be kept at constant temperatures between 50 and 59 °F (10 and 15 °C). Tom Stevenson speculates that 52 °F (11.1 °C) may be the most ideal temperature for storage and aging.

In general, a wine has a greater potential to develop complexity and a more aromatic bouquet if it is allowed to age slowly in a relatively cool environment. The lower the temperature, the more slowly a wine develops. On average, the rate of chemical reactions in wine doubles with each 18 °F

Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...

 (8 °C

Celsius

Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...

) increase in temperature. Wine expert Karen MacNeil

Karen MacNeil

Karen MacNeil is an American author, journalist, wine educator and consultant based in Napa Valley. MacNeil is also the creator and chairman of the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America in St...

, recommend keeping wine intended for aging in a cool area with a constant temperature around 55 °F (12.8 °C). Wine can be stored at temperatures as high as 69 °F (20.6 °C) without long-term negative effect. Professor Cornelius Ough of the University of California, Davis

University of California, Davis

The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...

 believes that wine can be exposed to temperatures as high as 120 °F (48.9 °C) for a few hours and not be damaged.

Vibration

Although anecdotal information regarding the contributions of vibration in wine storage states that it contributes to the accelerated aging of wine with adverse effects, this remains a research area with relatively little data. In a particular study, vibrations of different frequencies have been shown to have their own distinct effect on the chemistry of the wine though the authors have not stated whether the effects are detrimental to the quality of the wine or if the effect are caused by other aging factors.

Orientation of the bottle

Most wine rack

Wine rack

A wine rack is a device that stores and organizes wine. Wine racks can be built out of a number of different materials. The size of the rack and the number of bottles it can hold can vary widely...

s are designed to allow a wine to be stored on its side. The thinking behind this orientation is that the cork is more likely to stay moist and not dry out if it is kept in constant contact with the wine. Some wineries package their wines upside down in the box for much the same reason. Research in the late 1990s suggested that the ideal orientation for wine bottles is at a slight angle, rather than completely horizontal. This allows the cork to maintain partial contact with the wine in order to stay damp but also keeps the air bubble formed by a wine's ullage

Ullage

Ullage or Headspace refers to the unfilled space in a container, particularly with a liquid.-Etymology:The word comes ultimately from the Latin oculus, “eye”, which was used in a figurative sense by the Romans for the bung hole of a barrel...

 at the top rather than in the middle of the bottle if the wine is lying on its side. Keeping the ullage near the top, it has been argued, allows for a slower and more gradual oxidation and maturation process. This is because the pressure of the air bubble that is the ullage space rises and falls depending on temperature fluctuation. When exposed to higher temperatures the bubble's pressure increases (becomes positive relative to the air outside of the bottle, and if the wine is tilted at an angle, this compressed gas will diffuse through the cork and not harm the wine. When the temperature falls the process reverses. If the wine is completely on its side then this action will eject some wine through the cork. Through this "breathing" which can result from variations in temperature, oxygen may be repeatedly introduced into the bottle and as a result can react with the wine. An appropriate and constant temperature is therefore preferred. Additionally, oxidation will occur more rapidly at higher temperatures and gases dissolve into liquids faster the lower the temperature.

While most wines can benefit from lying on their side, Champagne and other sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...

s tend to age better if they are kept upright. This is because the internal pressure caused by the trapped carbonic gas provides enough humidity and protection from oxygen. The preference for upright storage of Champagne is shared by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne

Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne

Le Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne is an organisation grouping the actors of the Champagne production and trade - growers, cooperatives and merchants - under the direction of the government....

(CIVC) who conducted an extensive study of Champagnes that were stored in various conditions and orientations. This study found that Champagne stored on its side aged more quickly because oxygen was allowed to seep in after the Champagne corks lost their elasticity

Elasticity (physics)

In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....

 due to contact with the moist wine.

Alternative wine closures

Storing wine that is bottled with alternative wine closures

Alternative wine closures

Alternative wine closures are substitute closures used in the wine industry for sealing wine bottles in place of traditional cork closures. The emergence of these alternatives has grown in response to quality control efforts by winemakers to protect against "cork taint" caused by the presence of...

 other than cork have many of the same considerations in regards to temperature and light sensitivity. While humidity and concerns about oxidation are not as pronounced, the relative recent popularity and increased usage of these closures have not given much opportunity for much research into the storage and aging potential of wines that use these closures.

Places to store wine

Since the end of the 20th century, there has been growth in industries relating to wine storage. Some wine connoisseurs may elect to store their wine at home in a dedicated room or closet. Other options involve purchases and rentals at off-site wine storage facilities that are specifically designed for the task.

Wine will prematurely develop if stored in an environment that has large temperature variations, particularly if these occur frequently. Wine should never be stored in temperatures that are too cold (under 12 °C (53.6 °F)) as this will inhibit the development of the wine. Similarly, wine stored in temperatures that are too warm (over 19 °C (66.2 °F)) will cause overly rapid development of your wine. Temperature control systems ensure the wine cellar temperature is very stable. The variations cause corks to expand and contract which leads to oxidation of the wine.

If wine is stored in conditions that are too dry, the cork will shrink and cause leakage. Too moist, and mould and contamination may occur. Climate Controlled Wine Storage maintains moderate humidity levels (55%-75%) to avoid these problems and assist in the optimum wine development conditions.

Other industries focus on the construction of home wine cellars and wine cave

Wine cave

Wine caves are subterranean structures for the storage and aging of wine. They are an integral component of the wine industry world wide. The design and construction of wine caves represents a unique application of underground construction techniques....

s, small rooms or spaces in which to store wine. Others produce smaller wine accessories, such as racks and wine refrigerators. These appliances can feature adjustable temperature interfaces, two chambers for red and white wines, and materials which protect the wine from the sun and ambient environment.