What is the correct cellar temperature ?

55 is the traditional temp for long term wine storage. The right team for serving is entirely your personal preference. If you like the wines at 57 degrees, then that is the correct temp!

My passive cellar goes from 58 to 68 each year, for the past 30 years. I’m still waiting for some '88 Burgs to be “mature”. And I have been avoiding the better '90s, '93s, '95s, '96s etc., after trying a few! :slight_smile: Bordeaux can be even slower to age. Years ago, the winemaking was different, more oxygen exposure before bottling, and the wines “aged” much sooner. Coates mentions '88 as the start of a new era in Burgundy, for instance, and I have found that to be true. 15 years of age on a fine '71 red Burg was fine, for it to show maturity. Not the case anymore! So “ideal” temperatures were probably based on the old-style wines!

So unless you like your wines really youthfully aggressive, I would suggest not worrrying much about temperature, as long as you can keep it below 70. I think Parker says the same thing in one of his books - that below 70 the wines age faster, but aren’t harmed.

I always heards that best temperatures are between 50-55
With 95% of hydrometry

Hmm, Proper temperature control is most important for storing wine. So, the correct temp is between 10˚ and 15˚ Celsius (50˚ and 59˚ Fahrenheit) and the temp should be consistently maintained for effective wine storage.

95% is close to raining . . . and is likely to lead to mildewed labels, if they stay on the bottle at all.

~70% RH is better - enough to keep corks from drying out.

I agree with Paul. I have wines stored in both a 40 bottle temp-controlled unit at constant 55F @ 70% humidity and a passive cellar with a consistent range of 60F to 68F annually (but never more than a rare 2F degree swing per day.) I have yet to notice a difference in wine quality in long term storage between the two.

Have you ever put a digital thermometer into your 40 bottle unit? Those small wine refrigerators often cycle pretty frequently and aggressively - they may not be a good choice for long term storage.

Good point, I have not–and i agree with you on the need to watch out for temp fluctations in any storage.

I live in Sausalito, Ca, and the temperature in the hills is pretty moderate all year round. Even in the hottest days (usually around October) the interior of my house rarely gets too far above 70 without air conditioning. I will also admit I don’t keep my best wines in the smaller temp controlled unit (it came with the house, so it got some of our initial bottles before I put in my passive cellar.)

Some years back, we visited a very well respected winery in Chateauneuf du Pape on a very hot day in July. The proprietor graciously took us back into his brick-lined storage area, where they stored vintages dating back to the '50s. The area was cool, but not cold–my guess was merely just the low 60F range. There was no evidence of mechanical (or even barrel) cooling. When I asked about storage and temperature, he essentially replied that the biggest concern is rapid temp changes rather than a specific low storage temperature. He also said (and I’m paraphrasing…) that every person he knew that relied solely on mechanical cooling eventually had a power outage at some point, and that the relatively rapid cycling of even a few degrees up and back down again was probably more detrimental than, say, storage at any consistent temperature between between 60F and 70F.

One last note on this: I had a 1995 Stag’s Leap Cask 23 that had moved with me through a couple of houses for the last 18 years and received nothing but abuse. We’d stuck in a decorative case in our dining room, where it sat unloved and forgotten for the last ten years. Just rediscovered it last weekend and decided to give it a try—it was FANTASTIC.

Curious as to just how much deviation from nominal is acceptable (+/- 5 degrees)?

I’m starting to think I keep my cellar too cold, as I don’t keep anything for 40 years (yet)…

I’ll let others weigh in on the amount of acceptable variance; however another important component of the variance is duration. I.E. does it go up/down x degrees every day, or does it gradually go up our down as the seasons change? The former = bad, the latter = not so bad (assuming x is a reasonable number).

Warmer temperatures- under 75F- generally cause no harm other than more rapid aging, but it is my understanding that temperatures below 60F are required to keep any live brettanomyces from growing.

I often read about variance being more of a problem than slightly elevated temperatures, but I don’t recall ever seeing a controlled test.

P Hickner

Today my cellar was at 63.3 degrees. And that is the correct temperature. Today. According to the thermastat.

depends. 56 is classic. Glamis Castle was, I believe 45 degrees. I store at 50. Many store at 70 I don’t think there is a correct answer.

I don’t recall ever seeing a controlled test that showed ANY variation in temperature is a problem. Unless the variation involves extremely high or low temperatures of course

Also note that if the air temperature in a fridge fluctuates very often, the wine temperature will remain a lot more constant, as air does not quickly cool or heat wine in bottles. You can get actual numbers using this calculator

Best temperatures are between 50 and 57 in my opinion