Under Lock and Key

Wine storage and serving temperatures seem to be a mystery to many wine drinkers. After all, most stores selling wine pay little attention to proper storage guidelines, so why should you?

The reason you take the time to store and serve wine at proper temperatures should be obvious. The most important thing to keep in mind is that wine is "living" inside that bottle. It's always evolving until the time it turns "bad". Your job is to give it the best "life" you can. This means following a few simple rules: Keep your wine out of the sunlight; keep it on its side; maintain a consistent storage temp. With these rules in mind your wine experience will be at peak performance.

All of these guidelines can be easily meet by using a wine frig. We have two, one for reds and one for whites. (Top of the line storage units have dual temp controls). If the budget won't allow these units, then head for the basement or the coolest room in the house. You are trying to keep that wine at a fairly consistent 55 degrees (all temperatures given in fahrenheit), with a fairly high humidity ( 55-85 degrees) as well. Most of all keep from having radical temperature swings; an uninsulated garage for instance.

As most premium wines come with a cork stopper you should either store the bottle on its side or upside down to insure that the cork does not dry out and allow too much air inside (Air and light are the two big enemies of wine). As a side note, this is why you look at the cork when you pull it out. If the cork shows wine stains all the way to the end, then it's a good bet
the air has gotten into the bottle. Double check these wines before serving!

When serving wine keep in mind that all wines need to be at the proper temperature for that wine. Serving whites right out of the refrigerator is not correct. Try my little experiment: Serve a glass of white right out of the fridge; wait 1/2 hour and try another glass; finally, if any wine is left by then, try it at an hour out. You can come to your own conclusion but I'll bet you'll discover more nuances to the white wine after it has been allowed to near its optimal temperature of around 48 degrees.

As for Reds, get the notion out of your head that you should serve them at room temperature. That may apply if you are living in a tent and it happens to be 65 degrees out! I often suggest that you should stick a bottle of red that's been out on the counter for the day, into the fridge for a while to bring the temperature closer to its magic number. Again, the idea is to experiment by paying close attention to the shifts in aroma and taste as the temperature varies.

One last word of caution. Remember that, while you may not always feel like "hot stuff", your hands glow at a healthy 98.2 degrees! Keep them off the bowl of the wine glass unless you like mulled wine!