I am a lover of wine. My fiancé and I travel to the cape vineyards at least twice a year to explore what’s new in the South African market. My journey started in my adolescent days, stealing really expensive wine from my parent’s collection and it ventured to buying the cheapest wine at university and mixing it with cola to make my very own version of katemba.
Since then, I have done a little bit of growing up, wine tastings and all.
There are a lot of international wines that we buy online, but I have to take a moment to appreciate the amazing wine that South Africa creates. On top of that, finding out that most the vineyards export their wine, that has to be one of South Africa’s proudest accolades.
We do make it a point to try red, white and blends but I must say that we have a pallet for red wines. Mostly a Cabernet Sauvignon, sometimes a Merlot, rarely a Shiraz.
Since we are expanding our wine collection (if we don’t drink it all), I would like to educate my Fellow Winers (yes, I just made up that word) to the wonderful world of wine storage.
Unfortunately, because of my really sophisticated pallet, I’ll mostly be referring to red wine.
Turn down the Heat
I’m not sure what the perfect wine temperature is but I’ve been reading around and it looks like that the- right storage temperature is about 12 degrees Celsius and other site said between 4 and 18 degrees Celcius. Please do not store your wine on beautiful, moderately priced wine rack that’s on top of the fridge. Go and put your hand on top of the fridge right now. It’s really warm, I know it looks like the ideal place, but pleas, just resist.
Switch off the lights
If you ever go into a cellar here’s one thing you’ll never find: A giant LED flood light that permanently stays on. There’s a reason for that and a reason why wine bottles are green mostly. Just like humans prematurely age in the sun all the time, so does wine and light. You will not want your expensive wine tasting like balsamic vinegar when you’re charming your boss at your first dinner party, right?
Remove the batteries from your vibrator
Have you ever seen anyone shake a bottle of wine? Think about it. In every movie, restaurant, anywhere, have you ever seen anyone shaking wine? There’s a reason for that. Constant vibrations, mainly in red wine, doesn’t allow the sediments to settle. I’m not a wine super expert yet so I’m not so sure why that’s a problem. Just don’t do it.
Do the opposite of standing up
I am talking about the bottle here. Make sure that you store your wine sideways. Now, I’ve heard a couple of myths but I think this one makes most sense. Most wine is corked (if it’s not, don’t buy it) so when you store it you are slowly airing the wine through the cork. Clever hey? That’s actually a lie. When you store the wine sideways you keep the cork moist, which stops it from shrinking which stops it from allowing wine’s number 1 enemy, air, into the bottle to mess with that yummy wine flavour.
While I brush up on my wine storing skills, use the above as a guideline and remember sip, don’t slurp!
Its Lady Vera 