Perfect storage makes a difference, agree?

Drinking wines from various sources, stores, auction, home cellar and offsite storage i am finding the wines stored from release to drinking in perfect offsite conditions are significantly better. They seem fresher and corks are perfect, the wines just seem better

Everyone agree ?

Have you reached that conclusion in blind tasting comparisons? Or just non-blind?

I’ve had my own share of disappointments from wines that I’ve cellared myself from release.

I really wish it was more like what you describe, other than maybe some shift of probabilities.

No. All you are doing is trying to reduce variables, but the system is very complex.

I would agree that clean wines and perfect corks make a difference. After that, it comes down to luck.
People spend a fortune on ‘perfect storage’ to think they’re in control, if either of the two aforementioned are not what they need to be, then they’re not in control, at all.

Define “perfect storage.”

I would guess that many people on this site have had impeccably stored perfect looking bottles and corks but the wine is still flawed. No guarantees with wine. Less-than-perfect storage will certainly heighten flaws but isn’t the only factor.

Alan,
I usually agree …

… but since it will not take very long - and a senseless debate here will start with all pros and cons … scientific or emotional …

… I don´t see any reason to explore this further …

I have better to do … simply …

I think this is one of those situations where on the surface, I would agree in the sense that the best possible showing of a wine will be in a situation where it was stored best from the get-go. This also implies that during shipping, the wine was not compromised.

I think we can all look to situations where we have tried bottles that others have been highly enthusiastic about but our experiences have been different. And I have to believe a lot of that has to do with provenance.

Of course, that also can be a result of differences in oxidation rates with different corks.

There are so many variables at play here, but again, I agree with the general premise but would remove the word perfect.

Cheers.

I agree.

It’s why I am reluctant to buy wine at a local gourmet concenience store that has great selections but leaves its door open all summer.

The best wines I have encountered are those from temperature controlled cellars with high humidity. If you are a neat freak, don’t bother; the labels are usually badly stained, often barely legible, with bits falling off etc. But it’s amazing how little ullage there usually is, and the wines have great clarity and color.

In general, I agree fully.

Examples of good wines gone bad after coming from good homes is part of life. In general, better storage leads to better preservation.

Got proof?

If not, then Why not?

Is anyone here really indifferent to wine storage conditions? Demanding 100% perfect results before accepting the premise that storage matters is just arguing for the sake of arguing, IMO.

Yesterday I tasted through 7 vintages of Copain Brosseau Chard from '09-'16 and 9 vintages of Copain Kiser “En Haut” Pinot Noir dating back to 2003 at the winery where they have been stored in the perfect environment from bottling to tasting.
I’ve tasted some of the same wines over the years where provenance was un-known or less than what these bottles had. There are distinct differences. I’m not talking about flawed bottles, because a flaw is there from bottling, but storage related issues. Such as oxidation, heat stress, bricking, advanced aging characteristics.
As a general rule I answer yes to the OP.

What sort of proof would you insist on?

Do you think conditions in the vineyard or while making the wine matter?

How do you see chateaus treating their finished product?

How do you store your wine, assuming you keep some?

Any proof that any of those things matter?

One tragicomedy that yields info…

I have a friend who has many overlapping wines that we both enjoy.

When he moved to San Francisco, he rented a U-Haul truck to move his wine, loaded it one night in Southern California, and began his trek up interstate 5 towards the bay area. Somewhere north of Fresno, his truck broke down and he was stuck there for almost 2 days. The ambient temperatures outdoors were above 90 to 95°.

This was in 1995.

To this day, we can open the same wines taken from his stash and mine and the differences are immediately obvious. There was only one brief issue with “storage conditions” that were different in these wines lives.

When he brings out one on the ‘storage conditions’ wines, his wife laughs and says, “Ooh, serving some spaghetti sauce?”

Blech the “Prove It!” thing as a knee jerk reaction always falls flat to me. It’s over-applied skepticism. When “Prove It!” is the FIRST reaction to something, it says to me that you’re too far along that disbelief spectrum and not valuing subjectivity enough.

(Sidenote: The area empiricists struggle in most is love. How the hell do you prove love? It must not exist. Where are the concrete figures and data?)

Human experience, while inconsistent in many ways, does count for something. Especially in something that’s completely based on perception: a human’s experience of wine when consumed! We are not trying to establish a priori truth in a vacuum here. It’s about whether people generally notice a difference between crappily-stored wines and perfectly stored ones. Actually, the thread title DOES open this up for attack because if it were worded “Perfect storage makes a difference to how it smells and tastes to you, agree?” then we are acknowledging that this is a subjective discussion. So Markus has a point there, and there alone, imo.

What’s appropriate to the discussion of whether WE perceive a difference is an OPINION, since it is the only valid thing in a subjective discussion. Seeking some iron clad certainty like a Q.E.D. math theorem is barking up the wrong tree here.

Markus, Q for you…

If I offered to sell you your favorite expensive wine for $X dollars, stored ‘perfectly’ as per common convention, or $X - $10 stored at 85 degrees and low humidity upright for years which would you choose? And why?

It doesn’t matter because on WineBid it will say “Removed from a temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar/storage unit; Purchased upon release; Consignor is original owner”
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