Wine Storage tip's

Wine is a fragile, changeable substrate. If panning to keep a wine longer than a couple of days it must be properly stored. This doesn’t have to be an expensive and arduous endeavor but it does require some thought. Wine connoisseurs know how difficult it can be at times to find a suitable place to store wine. If you are keeping wine for more than just a few days, it has to be stored in certain conditions that will preserve it. Light, humidity and temperature can all affect the condition of the wine.

Therefore, it is important to choose a storage unit that will protect your investment and keep your wine safe. Luckily, wine collectors and small businesses have specialized options at many self-storage facilities. If you enjoy wine or you are considering opening up a business of your own, it may not always be feasible to store the wine in your own home or in your office. Not all wine connoisseurs can afford to build dedicated wine cellars in their homes and businesses that are tight on space may wish to store wine investments off-site to maximize space.

1 How to Store your Wine

SStoring wine is different from storing many other consumable items. A lot of people think wine can handle nearly anything until it is opened, but that is unfortunately not the case. Wine that is exposed to a lot of heat will become sour and undrinkable, even when completely sealed up. It should also not be exposed to very cold temperatures or allowed to freeze, since that also changes the flavor - and not for the better. Wine that is stored correctly will last for a long time and remain drinkable and enjoyable, even when left unattended (and still sealed) for years.

Many expensive wines are from a number of years ago, and they still taste amazing when they are finally purchased and opened. If you store your wine the right way, you can get that same taste. 

You also do not need to have a wine cellar in your home, even if you decide to have a large wine collection. It is possible to put your wine into a self-storage facility, as long as you choose one that is going to protect your wine and keep it stored the right way. There are facilities available, with a little bit of research into which one is closest to you.

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2 Temperature is Key

>While there are several things to consider where the storage of wine is considered, the temperature at which the wine is kept truly is the key to preserving it and protecting its flavor for months, years, or even decades of storage. Keeping your wine in the basement can sound like a good idea, but there can be significant temperature changes that occur there. It is generally cooler than the rest of the house, which can be a better choice for wine than too much heat, but it is still not the ideal environment. Depending on whether your basement is finished or unfinished, and the climate in which you live, poor temperature control can still be an issue.

You need a storage space that will hold all your wine and keep it at the right temperature on a 24/7 basis. It is not just heat or cold, but the fluctuations in temperature that can damage and degrade the quality and taste of even the best wine.

Quality wines can be more sensitive to these changes than less expensive options, but any wine you buy should be stored properly to ensure that a consistent temperature is kept. Having wine that tastes great is well worth any time and effort required to keep that wine at a consistent temperature during storage.

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3 Store Sideways

All too often, people purchase bottles of wine and place them upright in cabinets, on shelves, or even in the refrigerator. That is understandable for a bottle that will be consumed quickly, but true storage of wine requires more than that. Wine should be stored on its side, which helps preserve the flavor and prevents sediment from collecting in the bottom of the bottle. When it is stored upright for too long, there is some separation that occurs, and that can damage the flavor and the quality of the wine. Fortunately, that can be avoided by placing the wine bottles on their side for storage.

Special racks are made to store wine bottles on their side, whether these racks sit on the counter or they are much larger and designed for a wine cellar or other storage facility. They can be made from metal, wood, or another material. The choice of material for a wine rack is mostly aesthetic, and has little to do with how the wine is actually stored. 

The key is to place the bottles on their side, and to ensure that they are secure and will not roll around or have the opportunity to fall. The rack should also be sturdy enough to support the weight of the wine, as the heaviness of wine and bottles can add up.

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4 Watch the Vibrations

Wine needs to be stored in an area where there are little to no vibrations. Shaking the wine can harm it, in both quality and flavor. Some people store their wine in an area of the house where there is a lot of foot traffic, such as in a rack on the kitchen counter. It may seem like stable location, but the small vibrations from people walking through the area so frequently can degrade the wine over time. Opening and shutting cabinet doors and appliances like ovens and refrigerators also causes vibrations, as does preparing some food items on the counter.

Running a hand or stand mixer, for example, will send vibrations through the countertop, up the wine rack, and into the bottles of wine. These are the kinds of vibrations that most people do not think about, or realize are occurring. The wine, however, is affected by all of those tiny movements and shakes.

A few are not going to harm anything, but wine that is stored that way for a long time can end up with compromised flavor and a lack of quality that was not present when the bottle was originally purchased. By storing wine in a location where there are no vibrations, it will keep its quality and flavor much longer.

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5 Light is Harmful

Wine has a lot of enemies, and one of them is light. If you store your wine where bright sunlight hits it, you will quickly find that the quality of the wine is not as good as you had hoped. The flavor will change, too, and the wine just will not be as good as it otherwise would be. Part of the reason for that is that light usually means heat, which can lead to temperature fluctuations, but that is not the only consequence of letting too much light get to your wine. The light itself causes the wine to degrade, and wine that is kept in a darker space survives much longer and with better quality than wine left in the light.

While you do not have to store your wine in pitch darkness and hunt for your next bottle with a candle or a flashlight, it is important to have wine storage that is away from any sources of bright light on a consistent basis.

There are many ways to do that, but people with large wine collections often opt for a secure storage facility that will know how to handle wine the right way. That can ensure that the wine is treated the way it should be, and that it is kept in darkness or at a low light level, so its quality stays high the entire time it is stored.

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6 Specialized Units are Best

If you plan to store your wine away from your home or business, in a storage facility, it is very important that you consider a specialized unit. Some people just choose to put their wine in a climate controlled unit and assume that will be enough, but that really does not do a thorough job of protecting the wine the way it should. It does help make the wine less likely to degrade because of extreme temperature fluctuations, but even the best climate controlled unit is not set at one constant temperature. The temperature in the unit varies, sometimes by as much as 20 to 30 degrees.

That is too much fluctuation for wine, and it is not the only problem. The light level in most climate controlled units can also be a problem, as the overhead, fluorescent lights are very bright, and there are no options for a lower light level. Instead of taking a chance with climate control, a specialized unit that is designed specifically for wine is the right choice.

The temperature will be kept constant, the wine will be stored on its side in a wine rack, and the light level will be appropriate for what is needed to keep the quality and taste of the wine as its best for as long as it is being stored.

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7 Choose Appropriate Size

When storing wine, it is also important to select the right size unit. You do not want to pay for dozens of empty wine racks, but you also do not want to end up filling them up quickly and being out of room for more bottles. Those with large wine collections add to them and subtract from them frequently, and they have a good idea of the space they really need. If you are just getting started on a wine collection, or if you have recently decided to expand the collection you already have, it may be more difficult for you to determine your true need for size and space.

When possible and affordable, err on the side of too much space, as opposed to not enough. You can always add even more to your wine collection, but moving all of your bottles to a new unit because you ran out of space can be costly, time consuming, and hard on the wine itself.

It is much better to relocate the wine only once – to the storage unit you have chosen – and then allow it to remain there until you select a bottle to drink. Changing units is something to be avoided, if at all possible.

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8 Wine Storage Bins to fit Your Needs

Even if you aren't storing large quantities of wine, you can still take advantage of wine storage. Many wine storage facilities across the country have specialized wine storage bins that allow wine connoisseurs to store as little as 4 cases of wine safely and appropriately. Prices can be as low as $9/a month and can free up valuable space in your home or basement.

These specialized wine bins are located in locked temperature controlled spaces—free from ultraviolet light and vibrations. This is the perfect solution for the average wine collector or someone whose wine collection has outgrown their home.

We know that for avid wine collectors, keeping the quality of wine in impeccable condition is of utmost importance. We offer a wide range of options for wine storage and can help you to find a suitable storage unit anywhere in the country. You’ve already invested a lot in your wine collection so let us help you to store it. Rent a specialized climate controlled self-storage unit today and store your wine with a peace of mind.

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Wine Storage Units in Popular U.S. Cities

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