I joined a wine club a little while ago and i am learning alot just from the informationthey send with the wine but one question i have is.....How should I store all these wines? Is a reack in the living room ok for all wines that I plan to drink with in a year or two or should I invest in a cooler and keep them all in the cooler?? Is there a general rule? There alot of different wines and Im sure they all have specific needs?


Any info will help....also is the a good place to purchace wine racks?? up to like 25 bottles?


Thanks

If these are young wines that will be consumed in the next year or two, you really don't need to do anything special. Remember, wines' two chief enemies are heat and light, so you should put them in the coolest and darkest spot you can manage.

Try the Wine Enthusiast website for racks.

PH

Thanks for the info

what is considered a young wine? Is there a guidline?

If you only have a dozen or two, and plan on drinking them within a year or two tops, you should be fine with a living room rack. Just make sure no direct sunlight falls on the bottles, and that the temperature doesn't swing wildly. Wine is especially prone to heat damage, so if that room spikes up above say 80 degrees for any consistent length in the summer time, that's a no go. Humidity can also be tough, so if you live in an unusually dry climate, the corks may dry prematurely.

If you have extra cash, you can get a little unit like an Avanti, that'll hold about 30 bottles, but for short termers, it's not really necessary. It's not humidity controlled, but a little dish of water in there can help in arid climates.

If you find you're buying a lot of wines that need long term storage, you'll need other options.

Lots of places have nice wine racks. Try Pottery Barn or Pier 1. I found a beautiful iron one at a vintage/antique store.

Good luck, and enjoy your wine!

quote:

Originally posted by jmblooz:

what is considered a young wine? Is there a guidline?

That's actually a more complex question than you might imagine, as there are 1982 Bordeaux that many here would tell you are too young to drink! That being said, if you're buying wines from a club, these are typically recently released wines which is what I meant when I was refering to young.

If they're designed for early drinking, and you plan on doing just that.....you'll be fine without investing in proper storage. If you begin purchasing wines that need more than a couple years of aging, then proper storage is essential.

PH

Another good place to find racks is craigslist. I recently picked up a 120 bottle rack for $40. During my searches, I saw dozens of smaller racks for $10 or less.

craigslist is a great idea. Im actually addicted to that site but never searched racks.

Thanks very much

quote:

Is a reack in the living room ok for all wines that I plan to drink with in a year or two

People who live in different parts of the country have different situations but if you put those wines in your living room and you don't keep the AC on and you live in a walk-up or high rise and your living room gets to be 95+ during the summer days like mine does, you will cook those wines.

So if your coolest place is still hot as hell, keep the wine in the fridge. Some wine can take more abuse than other wine, but short-term consumption doesn't mean you should ignore any precaution.

For long term, the fridge is not ideal, but for your time frame it should be OK and at any rate, it's better than cooking your wine.

Generally, the wine would be fine in a room with no direct sunlight on the bottles and relatively stable temperatures ie not above 80 as the other posters indicated.

If that is not possible, simply put the bottles on their sides in your regular fridge fbut allow 1-2 hours for the bottle to achieve room temperature before you are ready to drink. This is fine for 1-2 years as well.