Just how sensitive is a bottle of wine?

[sharon001]

I actually have two questions...

1) I am a wine enthusiast, but I have to admit that I live in an apartment and have no cellar or other professional-type storage space for wine(s). If I store wines in my average temperature apartment for a few months, are they going to be adversely affected?

2) I just bought a few older bottles of wine on e-bay and am wondering how long I should let them "sit" or "settle" before drinking them... Also, is it generally a bad idea to buy older wines off e-bay, given that there's no real way of knowing how they were stored?

I guess my overall question is just how sensitive wines are to their storing conditions...

[hotwine]

Sharon, to answer the last question first... wines are very sensitive to their storage conditions, if those conditions include temperature variations of more than about 10 degrees. Or strong light. Or vibrations from shakey floors or nearby equipment. Suggest you place your wines in a cool dark closet, and drink them over the next 6-12 months.

As to buying wines at auction: I don't, precisely for the question you raised, which is commonly called "provenance".... their backgrounds can't be "proven" with certainty.

In general, I'd let any of those wines rest for at least a week before opening. Then watch for sediment (in the case of reds).