Drink

Learn how to take care of the wine at home without the need for cellar

Starting a collection of quality wines does not require a large cellar or an expensive wine cellar. To get off to a good start, you just need to love wine and know how to properly care for this drink to keep it in good condition. Having a good temperature and a registry of the bottles are details that can make a difference in the conservation of the wine.

For wine lovers, having a cellar to store your bottle collection is a goal. Those famous underground brick caves are the ideal place for the wine to age properly and be preserved over time, always giving you the opportunity to have a glass of the delicious drink, which will progressively get better.

However, this goal may be just a dream for other people who also enjoy wine, but do not have enough money to make an investment as large as that necessary to have a wine cellar at home. Similarly, it seems impossible for those who live in small spaces.

Due to this and to be able to please all the people who enjoy wine, no matter how much money or space they have, the solutions for these problems are updated to adapt to the requirements of each one. For example, there are companies specialized in making personalized wine cellars that adapt correctly to different corners of your home, as well as smaller wine cellars to store a limited number of bottles. However, for those who do not want any of these options, there are ways to preserve wine that do not need a wine cellar.

So, if you don’t have a wine cellar in your home, what should you take into account to keep the bottles in proper condition?

1) Find the right place

If you don’t have a wine cellar, it doesn’t mean you can’t have wine at home. This just means that you will need to find the right place to store your drinks. Wines are beverages that require certain storage parameters in order to stay in good condition.

First of all, it is necessary that the wines are constantly at temperatures of 6 to 18°C, and that there are no sudden changes in temperature. For that reason, the chosen place should be far from any source of heat. The higher the temperature, the faster the wine will evolve and you will notice changes in its flavor and quality.

The place you have chosen must also be dark, as light affects the color and aromatic tones of the drink. In addition, the storage area must be far from the kitchen to prevent some odors from influencing the flavor of the wine.

Lastly, make sure your makeshift wine cellar has a humid environment to prevent the cork from drying out. If this were to happen, air could get into the drink and damage it. Preventing the cork from drying out also depends on the position of the bottles, so always keep them horizontal.

2) Always have an inventory record

If you already have the place and a few wines to store, then make sure you have as specific an inventory record as possible. Not all wines should be kept for years and, for that reason, it is necessary to know which ones should be drunk within the first year and how many should wait to be consumed at their best point.

So that you do not forget and you can have everything under control, take a small book to write down the moment you bought the bottle, when you opened it for the first time, where you bought it and what type of wine it is. This will make it easier to organize your collection, and if you have a lot of bottles, you’ll be able to find them faster by writing down where each one is stored.

3) Always calculate your budget

When starting your wine collection, you should always start buying cheap bottles, because that way you can get familiar with running your small cellar, keep records and identify which one is best for each occasion.

Despite their price, it is possible to find good-tasting wines between 8 and 20 euros, and the best thing is that these drinks can be drunk immediately without having to spend a lot of time to enjoy them. In addition, keeping these wines in good condition does not require many conditions, unlike other great reserve wines.

When you want to expand your collection, then it is worth investing in your wine cellar to be able to meet the conservation requirements that more expensive and sophisticated wines need. From 25 euros, you can find special wines.

It is also recommended that you always write down how much the bottles cost and how much you are willing to invest in wine, so as not to go over your budget. This way you can make sure you have wines that you can keep and avoid losing money because one of them is damaged.

4) Organize the wines

The wines, despite sharing a name, have characteristics that make them different. The taste of a white wine, for example, is not the same as that of a red wine. The first has an acid touch that is worth maintaining, while the second stands out for its sweet flavor. And this distinction does not happen only with these two wines, but with all the others.

For that reason, the correct conservation of each wine will depend a lot on the way you organize your collection. If it is within your possibilities, order the bottles by type and also by the optimal storage temperature.

Champagne is best drunk at around 6°C, while vintage red wine is best enjoyed at 16-18°C. Separating them will ensure that each glass has the perfect temperature when drinking it.

5) Don’t be afraid to test your collection

For a wine collector, a new bottle is their baby and they probably won’t open it until the situation really calls for it. However, if you’re just starting out, he pops open a bottle and tastes it. This way you will know if it still needs time to age or if it is ready.

When you are already experienced, you probably know this just by looking at the wine. As you can see, even if you don’t have the best wine cellar of the moment, it is possible to start a wine collection and keep it in good condition. You just have to follow certain tricks to always have a glass of delicious drink ready to enjoy.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *