I am VERRRRY new to learning wine. I love Red wine and have been drinking Reds for about 5-6 years at least once a week.

I have been getting together more often with others who share the same interests in wine, and they are much more knowledgable than I.

I started off with the $7 Merlots and eventually became fond of certain vinyards and vintages. I recvently began learning that just because you liked a wine 2 years ago doesn't mean it will be good today.

I am now generally in the $15 - $20 price range of Merlots, Red Zinfandels, Pinot Noirs and Cabs. Although a little more on the Pinot Noirs.

Here is my question. I usually have 10-15 bottles in the house at one time. Currently I have 12 bottles, and they all reside on a rack in our dining room.

These wines have been there between 2 months and 1 week. Most will only last a month or two before they are consumed.

Do I need to be concerned about temperature and storage for these wines if they are not being stored long term?

The temperature in the house is always between 66-68 degrees. The rack is not near the heating unit. I usually place a couple bottles in the fridge a few days before, then take them out an hour or two before consuming.

Some of the better wines I currently have in the rack are:
Cosentino "The Zin" 2005
Simi Cabernet 2003
David Bruce Sonoma Coast 2004 Pinot Noir

Thanks so much!!

-Mike

Mike - temp/humidity controlled environments are critical for long-term aging. Since you are consuming all your bottles young, you are fine to keep them as you describe. Also wines in your current price range are not made for the long haul - they are produced with early consumption in mind. So kick back and enjoy your wine

quote:

Originally posted by Redfan:
Mike - temp/humidity controlled environments are critical for long-term aging. Since you are consuming all your bottles young, you are fine to keep them as you describe. Also wines in your current price range are not made for the long haul - they are produced with early consumption in mind. So kick back and enjoy your wine

Thanks redfan! I figured I was safe, but just wanted to be sure.

At 66-68 degres, you should be easily able to store for much longer than two months -- if the temperature is fairly constant. Large, repeated, temperature swings can create problems.

Like Redfan said; enjoy. Also, hold on to your wallet! Those $45 Pinot's are sooo much better than the $20 ones.

Sharkey:

The David Bruce Pinot was actually around $30 and I absolutely love it! I had another Pinot at a party last week, 2005 Morgan Twelve Clones Monterey, I loved that one as well...I believe that was around $24.

Welcome to your new passion. I can't think of anything more interesting than getting to know wines. I've been drinking wine my whole adult life but just 4 years ago, decided to get serious and find out what it was really about. my $12-$15 became $15-$25 and then $25-$40, $40-$60 and so on and so on. In all there is so much good.

I've learned by trial and error the pitfalls of not storing wine properly and I've also learned that if you drink it within months, unless you really cook it, it will be fine. When you want to store wine to for a long time, then it becomes much more important...in my opinion.

OK...Not good.

I opened a bottle of Ruffino Chianti Reserva 2002 last night. This is one of the bottles that I had on my rack for about 2 months. The first smell almost knocked me and my buddy over. It was musty..very musty. It actually tasted better than it smelled, but it wasn't very good. I have had this wine several times in the past and truly enjoyed it.

Now my friend, who actually makes his own wine and has a cellar, believes it's due to the way it was stored, and that the dry heat in the house in the winter caused the damage. As I said earlier, the temp is usually set between 66-68 degrees in the house.

So...could he be right? And if so, then the other bottles on the rack are probably shot as well...

Not happy....

-Mike

Nice to meet you, Mike. It sounds like we are very similar in terms of 'where we are' with wine. I have been drinking wine rather steadily for about 5 years or so, but just got serious about it in the last 2 or 3.

I used to drink wines that ranged from $8-15 (with the occasional 'splurge' to $18-24). Then, of course, I started developing tastes for certain wines, and none of those certain wines fell in that lower range. heh.

I found a local wine boutique near me that is run by a sommelier about a year and a half ago, and he handpicks all of his wines (only sells about 50 or so in his store), hardly any of them I had known of before hand. Anyhow, I started going there regularly and picking up a bottle or two per his recommendation and really trying different things and figuring out where my tastes are. HE has now come to know my tastes pretty well, and so now he kind of guides me and tells me about things he thinks I'd like. I have had SUCH a blast in doing this, and would recommend this approach to anyone who is at the point in their wine experience as I am!

The downside is that nothing in there is less than $20, and so now I am regularly spending $20-30/bottle, and occasionally splurging for something a bit more (like the Juan Gil Cleo I just picked up ).... and like EagleGraphix mentioned, I definitely feel myself climbing up that ladder. heh. And it is a slippery slope indeed, as I truly can't even drink the true cheaper wines anymore. I'm lovin it, but my bank account is not! :/

Anyhow, this has nothing to do with storing (though I too keep about 10-15 bottles at home, and keep them on a basic rack in my dining room, and so I was interested in the question) so I apologize for hijacking your thread, but reading your post it really hit home with me, Mike. I think we're at about the same point in the journey!

A quick question about something mentioned earlier...

Is it a good idea to put a red (I generally drink bolder reds, not lighter reds like Pinots) in a fridge for 2 or 3 days before serving? I know it's good to cool it off a bit from room temperature (if you don't keep it stored in a climate) before you serve it, but I've always worried about taking a wine from the 68-70degree of the room, to the cold of a fridge, and then back down to almost room temperature where I like to drink my stronger reds.

Will this temp fluxuation potentially hurt it?

OTTnMIA,

Nah, it's the fluctuation that includes copious heat that's the culpit, so the fridge for a few days, then back to room temp shouldn't harm your wine.

But, why bother? Just pop the bottle in the fridge for a half hour before you want to drink it to cool it a bit to your liking.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikev101:
OK...Not good.

I opened a bottle of Ruffino Chianti Reserva 2002 last night. This is one of the bottles that I had on my rack for about 2 months. The first smell almost knocked me and my buddy over. It was musty..very musty. It actually tasted better than it smelled, but it wasn't very good. I have had this wine several times in the past and truly enjoyed it.


-Mike

Mike, as others have mentioned, welcome to discovering what becomes, for many, a true 'passion'. I'm suspecting you may have just experianced your first 'corked' wine. It's suggested that 1 or 2 bottles per case can suffer this. Generally, a 'corked' wine will smell musty, similar to wet cardboard. For more information regarding this, check the sites here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint
or
http://www.cellarnotes.net/corked_wine.htm

Meanwhile, don't let this experiance set you off. Just consider it part of something natural at time. Just imagine the heart-ache of properly storing an expensive wine for years, only to pop the cork and fine it 'corked'.

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
OTTnMIA,

Nah, it's the fluctuation that includes copious heat that's the culpit, so the fridge for a few days, then back to room temp shouldn't harm your wine.

But, why bother? Just pop the bottle in the fridge for a half hour before you want to drink it to cool it a bit to your liking.

Cool, thanks for the input. That's what I've always done (popped it in the fridge a little bit before corking), and found it interesting to hear that someone puts their reds in the fridge for several days prior to drinking. I wondered if maybe I was missing something! heh.

Thanks again.

Random contribution...but I remember my first encounter with a corked wine in Australia. I paid a pretty penny for a Kim Crawford Chardonnay (NZ) only to crack open the bottle at home and found it "corked". Silly me- I poured the contents down the drain and trashed the bottle. Two days later I went back to my fav wine store and mentioned the issue. Of course they asked for the bottle and said they would be more than happy to replace it. By then the bottle was long gone. Sigh.

But hey- am still drinking and still luvvin it!

Cheers!

"Carpe Vinum!"