Wine Care in Your Own Wine Cellar

It is a pleasure to take care of something that is beautiful, especially when time and trouble bear fruit. Wine storage is an especially multifaceted hobby. It is pure pleasure when a wine that has been stored properly unfolds its full potential. The experience is all the more better when it can be seen that the wine has developed excellently far beyond initial expectations in the course of its storage. Herein lies the deeper meaning of an own wine cellar.

In the first instance a wine cellar serves as storage place for wines for daily use: rested and, if possible, at the right temperature the wine comes on to the table.
The remaining stock can be converted to your own wine library, in which wines are collected by themes and personal interests: e.g. wines from your holiday, an assortment of pinot noir or Riesling wines, top European wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy or wines from the year of birth of your children or grandchildren. In this way the private library of a wine collector develops its own personal character. It contains personal favourites that mean a lot to the collector and which he follows from year to year.
It takes some planning to set up your own wine cellar. Here it is important for the wine connoisseur to first ask himself the following questions:

1.) What wines can be stored and for how long can they be stored?

2.) What technical and climatic conditions must prevail for proper storage?

3.) How can I keep my wine cellar tidy and organised?

The following information is meant to serve as a guide. The wine connoisseur may, depending on whether he likes older or younger wines, extend or shorten the storage period at will:
The storability of a wine is determined by its tartaric and tannic acid as well as its alcohol and extract. The higher the share of these preserving constituents in the wine is, the longer it can be stored. On the other hand it then often needs years to develop a balanced state with a wealth of aroma and flavouring.

Wines for immediate use
Light, simple white, rose and red wines whose quality is determined especially by freshness and youth are consumed in a "young" state. Long storage is therefore not necessary or advantageous.

One to two-year-old wines
This group comprises numerous red and white wines which reach their zenith in a relatively short time, e.g. high-quality German and Alsace wines, white wines from Bordeaux, light Beaujolais, etc. These wines are often fruity and full, albeit without the strength and complexity that only develops over a longer period of time in the case of really high-class wines.

Two to five-year-old wines
The best wines in the previous category often really only unfold after two to three years, thereby gaining even more character in subsequent years. The most important representatives in this group are high-quality German Rieslings and Pinot Noirs in the cabinet and late-vintage category, good Cru Bourgeois from Bordeaux, many red Burgundies from Côte d'Or as well as moderate red wines from France, Spain and Italy.

Long-life white wines
Only a few white wines are suitable for storage longer than five years. They include German Rieslings from Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, top wines from Sauternes and Barsac as well as high-quality chardonnays from Burgundy from great vintages.

Long-life red wines
Wines with a high, natural tannin share and much extract usually require a bottle age of 5, 10 and more years before they develop a harmonious, smooth and full taste. Thanks to systematic work on quality, these wines include German red wines, e.g. high-tannin Lemberger, very good Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé, high-quality Burgundy and Rhône wines as well as Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont and Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany or Rioja Gran Reserva.

A wine cellar should be the coolest, darkest and quietest place in a house. The temperature for optimal storage should range from 10 - 18°C . The range of temperature fluctuation here is not as important as its inertia. The gentle temperature change in the course of the year under the influence of summer and winter is wanted because it stimulates the biochemical development process of the wine in a natural way. At a completely uniform climate of a constant 10°C and high humidity the wine experiences no maturation stimuli anymore and remains virtually unchanged.
Temperatures above 21°C and repeated rapid or extreme temperature fluctuations are prejudicial to the wine. They cause the wine to expand in the bottle and then to retract again. This pump effect causes the wine to age rapidly, it becomes tired and its organic virility diminishes. High-quality wines that are often moved during storage have little chance of developing their optimal quality. References at wine auctions that the rarity on offer was always stored in a cool cellar have their justification.

Wine should be stored such that it is protected from light. Ultraviolet radiation, in particular, cause chemical changes that damage the wine.

Fresh air is necessary to retain flavouring and aromatic agents. A musty cellar smell can be taken on by the wine and change the bouquet negatively.
Therefore neither fruit nor vegetables nor any other strong-smelling things, e.g. paints, should be stored with wine.
The optimum air humidity for wine lies between 60 and 85%. Experience has shown that wine matures more slowly in moist cellars, and although it is not harmed in any way, the label becomes unattractive.
Tip! The labels can be protected by wrapping them in air-tight cellophane.
Wine must be stored lying down so that the cork does not dry out and stays tight. If stored upright, the cork loses its elasticity in dry air after just one or two months. The maturation process of the wine is accelerated immensely by the ingressing oxygen.
The room should be directed to the north if possible and on the far side of any roads. Embedded in the earth is definitely the best solution.
The necessary wine climate can be achieved in many normal cellar rooms of concrete with a few measures. Insulation protects against the heat of adjacent rooms. Since concrete absorbs moisture without giving it off again, the humidity should be checked per hygro-thermometer. A brick floor can be wetted regularly to add moisture to the air. In spite of every precaution, however, sometimes it is not possible to avoid high temperatures in hot summers without an air-conditioning unit.

It is easiest to create order in your wine cellar with a good wine rack. The primary aim behind our wine rack system is to store your wine safely and orderly. It must withstand weight and high humidity over many years. For the wine itself, wine rack bricks with individual tubes are best. Brick is the undisputed best building material for balancing out climatic fluctuations and preserving the necessary humidity and coolness. The wines lie in the individual tubes untouched and in the dark until they are removed. However, the disadvantage of storing wines in tubes is that the wine collector can lose touch of his wines. If the wine is not marked with wine cravats or signs, you might have to look for it. Further, the space required to accommodate the storage capacity is high.
Wine rack systems with large shelf areas are ideal for this.
In the end the choice of wine rack is a question of individual needs and visual taste.
A wine cellar register is useful for recording purchase, storage, consumption and degustation information. In the case of wines that are to be stored for a long period of time, it is not only the origin that is important, but also their life expectancy. In this way, for example, the cellar register can become an indispensable necessity for recording the results of a wine tasting after, say, five, 10 or 20 years.