Rachael Davis
Wine storage isn’t usually a testy subject.
Some of you lucky readers might keep it in a wine cellar, and you may even have a specialised wine fridge tucked away somewhere, but generally speaking it’s a regular fridge or cupboard situation.
For white wine, prosecco, and rosé, you probably keep it in the fridge so it’s nice and cool when you come to drink it.
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For reds, you likely keep those in the cupboard or somewhere else that’s relatively cool and out of the sunlight. If you like a cold red one that more power to you, but generally they’re better supped at room temperature.
Apparently, you ought to take things a step further. Speaking to Metro, wine expert Rob Buckhaven said kitchens are wine ‘kryptonite’ – that’s the stuff that makes Superman weak at the knees, if you aren’t familiar – as the temperature within them can be ‘all over the place’.
"In no particular order, temperature extremes, light, vibrations and lack of humidity are the foursome of fear for wine," he wrote.
"To borrow someone’s analogy, wine bottles are like tiny vampires, they thrive in dark, cool, quiet conditions. They’re also divas, demanding perfect conditions to perform. That was my analogy, and I couldn’t relate more."
You might think your cupboard has a pretty neutral environment, but if it’s next or near to a dishwasher, oven, washing machine, or fridge then it can get warmer in there than you might expect.
Those white goods tend to vibrate and create humidity too which, as Buckhaven has already noted, don’t do wine any favours.
In Buckhaven’s view, you don’t need a specific wine cellar. Any cellar would do, although if you’ve got the luxury of a cellar at all then you’re in a minority. What advice is there for us poor chumps living in wine cellar-free flats?
Luckily, a spare room – another luxury in these cash-strapped, high-rent times, of course – should do the trick provided you keep the heating off and block out the sunlight.
Ideally, you want a static temperature of around 13 degrees Celsius for optimal wine storage.
Another place to consider would be a cupboard under the stairs, but Buckhaven stressed that garages and attics are absolutely not the way to go. Those also have wildly varying temperatures, and attics in particular are prone to heating up because, as your GCSE in physics will have informed you, heat rises.
So, all the very best of luck to those of you in one-bedroom flats.