In this wine cellaring guide I’ll give you the top tips from Classic Cellars in Melbourne, plus how to get the most from your cellar and process.
My mother always said “Wine cellaring is an artform, and if you don’t plan to get it right, there’s no point bothering at all”.
Of course, she would say this over a fine wine.
Wine cellaring top tips
If you don’t want to read the entire wine cellaring guide, as perhaps you have an important meeting to attend to, then here’s my top 3 wine cellaring tips:
Cellaring tip #1 – Location
Think temperature, light, humidity and vibration.
Cellaring tip #2 – Diarise
Diarise your collection on the computer or in a wine diary.
This makes it so much easier to find the wine you want without having to disturb your valuable collection.
Cellaring tip #3 – Neck Tags
Neck tags also make it easy to locate your wine. The last thing you want to be doing before a dinner party is hunting for your special bottle of wine.
Video: Wine cellaring guide
In this video with Pierre from Asti Wine Consultants (USA) we learn how to build a wine cellar at home.
The great thing about this video is Pierre discusses the evolution of his wine cellaring and the benefits he’s learned from his experience:
Make sure the conditions in your cellar are correct
To give wine time to achieve its full potential of maturity the basic rules to follow are to cellar or store it in a cool, dark, dry, place.
To be more precise, think temperature, light, humidity and vibration.
Sudden changes in temperature should be avoided.
Vibration upsets the natural process.
Humidity should be held at around 65 to 70 per cent to avoid corks drying out letting air into the bottle that will affect the taste.
Vibration should be avoided. Storing wine near machinery or anything that vibrates because it will cause sediment to float and prevent it from naturally settling.
How to organise your wine cellar
A well organised wine cellar is one that has been properly planned before the first bottles are racked.
Prepare a layout of where you will locate your reds and whites and how you will classify them.
For example, you might elect to classify them as “ready-to-drink”, “mature”, “aged” or ready in one, two or three years.
Cellar your wine by variety, region or vintage, but know where to put your hands on it when you need it – to impress unexpected guests!
Some wine collectors like to tag necks with the date of purchase and the price they paid just to see how much their collection has appreciated in value, which really adds to the fun of it.
If you’re computer savvy, it’s well worth diarising your collection on your computer. Avid wine collectors are often surprised with what they’ve amassed!
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