How to Cellar Wine

If you’re going to cellar wine!



Keep your wine upside down if it has a cork in it. While some scientists suggest that the partial pressure of water vapour between the wine’s surface and the cork in an upright bottle is enough to keep the cork sufficiently moist, I’m not prepared to take the risk. If corks dry out, air gets in. This is ruinous. An added advantage of the growing number of both red and white wines packaged with screwcap seals for longevity and to guard against cork taint, is that you can actually cellar them upright without concern. I have been amazed at the ability of both whites and reds to mature with these seals.

Keep your wine in the dark. Ultra-violet light can penetrate most glass bottles to some degree especially the clear ones and oxidise the wine inside. This is why so many cellars are dimly lit. If you haven’t the space for a dark cellar, keep your bottles in their boxes or else behind a heavy curtain.

Keep your wine still and undisturbed. Regular vibrations accelerate the ageing process with wine. Furthermore, there’s no need to turn your bottles every morning, as some people regularly do. This habit began when English gentlemen needed an unobtrusive means of checking that their household staff hadn’t secreted any away from their premises, so they actually did this to count their stock.

Temperature should be both constant and low. There is debate about the ideal cellaring temperature. In my experience, if wine is cellared above 18 degrees Celsius it ages too quickly. If it is cellared at around 10-12 degrees, it ages very slowly, perhaps too slowly for some of us. Around 14 degrees is probably ideal, which means that in most parts of Australia, you will need some temperature control. Most importantly, changes in temperature from day to night and from season to season must be avoided if wine is to be kept for even a few months. So keep wine well away from windows and external walls, unless they’re very thick.

Think about humidity. If a cellar is too humid then labels and racks may go mouldy. It’s unlikely that the wines themselves will be adversely affected, but it’s not worth the risk with rare and expensive wines. If there’s not enough humidity in the cellar, the outward ends of wine corks may shrink and reduce their ability to impart a seal. This can considerably shorten a wine’s longevity. If there’s too much humidity, a small fan can help to keep air moving.

If there’s not enough, a bowl of water, or even water tipped onto a gravel floor, can help.

To make the most of your cellar!



Start by keeping good records. Bookkeeping is essential unless you can readily remember the quantity, name and age of every wine you own. There’s nothing worse than finding a good wine left beyond its peak, so a record-keeping system is crucial. Do it on the computer. There are several cellar management systems available to choose from. Use one that enables you to customise its logic to suit your own cellar. There’s another big advantage if your cellar is computerised: you don’t have to worry about the bin size or having to construct single bottle slots. All you do is search for a wine by name in your database and its location will automatically appear.

Furthermore, in the unfortunate event of fire or flood, your records will at least give you a sporting chance when you make an insurance claim for your cellar contents.
Think about your buying and drinking habits. If you regularly buy wine by the dozen, you’ll need bins for twelve bottles, bins for half-dozens and perhaps single bottle slots. That way you can put a new dozen straight into the system, move it along when you’re half way through, and then insert the remaining bottles into their own slots. If you’re designing a cellar this way, keep between 40-50 for single bottles.

Try to buy by the dozen. Most of us miss wine at its peak by purchasing a small amount and drinking it too soon. With a dozen bottles it has more of a chance and besides, some of us can only summon sufficient resistance with the sight of an unopened box. But if you’ve bought a dozen, don’t rest on your laurels for a decade or more without taking a peep at the wine. Sometimes it’s possible to wait too long. Sample a bottle about four years before the wine is expected to peak and then, all being well, about two years before. Your expectations will then be confirmed, or you should alter your approach towards the wine in question. Then, once you expect the time is near, try a bottle every six months or so. That way you should not only have enjoyed watching the wine develop, but have about six or seven bottles left to experience at their best.

So if your dream home wasn’t built with a cellar!



Think about a temperature and humidity-controlled wine cabinet. Then you won’t have a worry in the world about the health of your wine or your ability to access it. Some of these units are particularly impressive. Factors you might take into account if considering this option include your ability to change temperature settings, the ease of access to the wines inside, possible temperature zoning within the unit to provide different compartments for ‘drink now’ wines, whether or not fresh air circulates throughout the unit, that the inside of the unit is dark, that it is lockable, that any glass doors are UV-treated, and that the degree of vibration caused by motor units is minimal.

Find yourself a commercial cellaring facility. When choosing which cellaring facility to go with, ask about the temperature and humidity issues, find out about their data keeping facilities, how much and on what basis you will be charged, the security against theft, flood and fire and what sort of pick-up and delivery service you’re offered. Will you be told when a wine is nearing its peak? Will you have the ability to buy from and trade with other customers? Some of these operations are equipped with professional standard tasting rooms and commercial kitchens and even offer club-style memberships to their customers, including newsletters, tastings and dinners. Other leading operations of this kind are networked over the entire country, so you can keep wine in different cities, depending on where you bought it. Please login to post comment