my storage

[hotwine]

Joe, in my experience, wines begin to cook at roughly 70 degrees. Storage at temps between 60-70 is probably OK for a while (What's a while? Have no idea.), but when the temp goes above 70, many wines seem to begin their death spiral, and that can end quickly or be dragged out a long time. I still have a few wines in the cellar that were acquired well before installation of the chiller last June, and have been surprised that some are still good. In general, it seems that the German Rieslings have held up better than all others. Don't know why. Can only say if you're going to return home with some gems, highly recommend you obtain good storage immediately on your return. It wouldn't make sense to go to the trouble of lugging good stuff home, only to have it turn to mush after just a few short months.