WCI back!

Okay, so now we’re all members of a bunch of great wine clubs, and our collections are building up. The small racks we bought are filled, there’re a couple of cases on the floor, and a bunch more bottles on a shelf in the basement…

My friends, the time has come to start considering a real wine cellar!

There are several ways to go about starting your own cellar, ranging from digging your own basement if you live in parts of California, to converting the small spare room. No matter which way you choose to go, there are a couple of constants that you should be aware of.

The first constant is Constant Temperature. Besides regularly shaking your bottles around, this is one of the things that can damage a nice bottle fastest. Wine is a living, growing thing; unlike whiskey or other spirits that stop aging as soon as they hit the bottle, wine continues to grow, mature, and (hopefully!) improve as it sits in the barrel and then in the bottle, and it likes being stored at a relatively cool, constant temperature.

Somewhere between 55 and 60 degrees is considered just about optimal, which coincidentally matches up with the temperatures in the wine caves in France… hmm… imagine that!

The next constant is Constant Humidity. Low humidity can increase the evaporation of the wine, and most importantly, can damage the cork, which is a really really bad thing.

The third constant is constant light. Natural and fluorescent light both give off significant amounts of ultra-violet radiation, which degrade the otherwise stable organic compounds in the wine,

Okay… we want cool, moist and dark. What’s next? Oh, where do I begin? Building a cellar can be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do, and we’ve got a few days worth of work to do, so that you can safely and happily store the fruits of your wine clubs, and your wine club gifts!

See you tomorrow!

Cheers,

WCI