Once the clear wine has been bottled and you intend to keep it for more than three months, it is important to realize that corks dry out. When this happens, the shrinkage could cause the sealing-wax to crack, causing tiny air holes to appear and wild yeast & bacteria could attack the wine.

All bottles fitted with ordinary corks or cork-lined screw caps should always be stored on their sides. This allows for the wine to keep the cork moist (which prevents shrinkage). Rubber-banded screw-stopper bottles may be stored upright.

Knowing that wine should be stored throughout the year at a certain, constant temperature, many people go to much trouble and dream up all sorts of ingenious devices to achieve that end. Authorities are divided in their opinions as to the ideal temperature in which wines should be stored. This is most likely due to the fact that wines (like human beings) like what suits them best. Perhaps there is an ideal temperature for certain types of wine, but what suits the Eskimo does not suit the Australian aborigine, and this will likely never change.

In any case, the aborigine and the Eskimo get changes in temperature and no harm comes to them. In fact, they seem to thrive on it. So why not let us think of our wines as being something like ourselves in that they are quite at home in the temperatures that we give them?

Rapid changes are best avoided. Of course, (as with human beings), if we can store our wines on a stone floor, all the better! If this is not possible, a cupboard on the north side of a building will do provided a chimney does not run through it.

A friend of mine stores three hundred bottles of some really magnificent wines in an attic which becomes very hot in the summer and nearly freezes in the winter. However, no harm ever comes to any of his wines. So, store your wines anywhere you can and don't worry.

When serving home-made wines, remember that they are best when served at room temperature. Champagnes should be served cellar-cool or iced.

About the Author

James Wilson owns & operates www.e-homewinemaking.com, a site providing wine-making tips, tricks and techniques. If you're interested in making your own wine, visit www.e-homewinemaking.com today and sign up for the FREE wine-making mini-course!

A synopsis on Merlot Wine.

Wine Storage Tips


Once the clear wine has been bottled and you intend to keep it for more than three months, it is important to realize that corks dry out. When this ha...


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Recommended Merlot Wine Items

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News about Merlot Wine

Bo Merlot

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:18:45 PDT
Weeks after we learned that Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson released his wine twentyfour, today’s Ann Arbor News headline reads, “Bo Merlot as robust as the man”. Full story from Geoff Larcom. Notes from the News story: * For each bottle sold, $2 will be donated to the U-M Cardiovascular Center, which the coach credited with helping save his life after the first of his two heart attacks. * The wine is a 2005 California merlot that will retail for $19.69 (the first year he was head co

Wine Blogging Wednesday 48–Back to my roots

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:32:58 PDT
It’s hard to believe that Wine Blogging Wednesday is four years old! This month’s edition is hosted by WBW’s father, Lenn, over at Lenn Devours. The theme for this month’s event asks wine bloggers to go back and taste the wine that they first encountered, first started drinking, first sat up and took notice of, etc. HAL 9000 voice] I’m sorry, Lenn. I’m afraid I can’t do that. /HAL 9000 voice] If I wanted to give a lawyer’s answer, I’d say that I can’t find that particular wine–the vintage

Wine, Etc.: (The Capital)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:18:52 PDT
Do you remember that as a kid you were curious about anything your parents said was bad for you? That was the case for Chris Hatcher, who was told by his father - a Methodist minister - that wine was evil.

Wine Not?

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:12:57 PDT
I am obsessed with cheese (was a card carrying member of Murray's cheese of the month club at one point) and being obsessed with cheese has made me well, obsessed with wine. So my face flushed merlot with excitement (some call it DT's) when I read this piece about a GPT one-woman wine-making show today. Brooklyn Oenology is Greenpointer Alie Shaper's successful stab at "urban wine-making" and is an operation that is finding growing success in and around our borough. If your senses have been p

Disher Review #5: Jaspers

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:36:46 PDT
Okay, so this is going to be a combo. A reader and I both went to Jasper’s last night (hey friend! I was the one in the orange dress, did you see me?) and we ordered almost the exact same things. His review will be up first, and then I’ll add my thoughts, with pictures, after that. Cool? Jump. My wife and I tried Jasper’s for the first time Tuesday evening, and I’m going out on a limb here, but we both liked this experience more than our first time at Abacus. Kent Rathbun has certainly set a m

Bo Merlot as robust as the man (The Ann Arbor News)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:55:17 PDT
Bo Schembechler, the rugged coach who inspired generations of University of Michigan football players and fans, is now the inspiration for a fine 2005 vintage California merlot.

Wine Review | 2005 Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Merlot (The Columbus Dispatch)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:39:30 PDT
Unlike the excessively fruity, nondescript type of merlot that has been giving this grape a bad name, Dry Creek's new release is a Bordeaux-like blend with smaller quantities of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and malbec.


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