wine storage and cellaring

[Dick Peterson]

Nancy gave you good advice. I've read various articles that pompously stated a specific temperature to store wine at. That's nonsense. There's a range and I'm sure any temperature within that range is fine for twenty years or so. All you have to remember is that excessive heat and excessive cold can damage most wines. There are exceptions, of course: Sherry isn't often hurt by either air or considerable heat; Some table wines aren't hurt by freezing even though most are, etc.<p>Even though I would always try to store good red wine in a quiet spot with temperatures within the 55 to 65 degree range, I've seen great wine stored between freezing and 100 degrees F for years with only slight damage. The daily temperature fluctuations were only a few degrees even though there was a large difference between the yearly high and low. The secret is that, if temperature fluctuates, don't let it fluctuate often or rapidly. 10 degrees per day is not a big deal at all; 50 would be. But fluctuations of 50 degrees over a year's time period does not hurt most good reds in my experience. This may sound odd but I've seen it. The fluctuating temperatures act as a pump to expand and contract the volume of liquid inside a bottle. This takes a toll on the cork and defeats its ability to keep a good seal in no time at all. Worse, the pumping tendency actually forces air into the bottle over time so that the wine goes over the hill faster with rapid temperature fluctuations. Slower fluctuations don't seem to hurt the wine even if the winter low approaches freezing and the summer high goes near 100 degrees! I think this is why wine storage in caves over the centuries worked out well. Dick