As some of you might know, in the past couple of years I have accumulated close to 200 bottles. About 130 of them - the more age-worthy - sit into my wine fridge, while the remaining ones (for more immediate drinking) sit into a dark closet with temperature ranging between 69-73F (depending on the time of the year) and humidity between 50-65%. While most of the wines there are 20-30 dollar bottles I plan to drink within 6-9 months, due to spillage I have some more worthy bottles sitting there (like Falesco Montiano 2011 or Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay).
I had stored there three bottles of San Guido Guidalberto for about 15 months, and I then opened one of the three bottles as I was worried it would be bad but it tasted fresh and in great conditions. My question is: how long would you store whites and reds in those conditions for?
I am working on another wine fridge that should come in by Christmas and should solve most of the issues.
On the bright side, when I moved to CT in 2012, I moved 95% of my cellar to offsite storage. The remainder â mostly âwhy did I buy this again?â â were left in a basement that ranged widely in temp from probably 60 in the winter to 74 in the summer. These wines were consumed over the course of 6 years until I decided to build a cellar. I never noticed any issues. This included wines that were presumably more fragile, like 2002 Chablis, 1996 Chinons, and such. No issues.
Now, the flip side. I belonged to a tasting group for 15 years or so and one of the guys I tasted with in that group and socially had a passive cellar. He had wines going back into the seventies. I got familiar with wines that he might bring where another friend might have the same 20 year old Bordeaux stored properly. Invariably, the properly cellared wines â once theyâre 10 years old or so â would show better. My opinion on this is based on a fair bit of experience and itâs this:
Wine is more resilient than most collectors think.
Fine wine aged improperly generally ages faster and typically doesnât reach the same heights
Delicate fine wine aged improperly starts to show flaws at some point
The more robust the wine, the longer it takes for the issue to become apparent
I wouldnât worry about storing anything at 72 degrees for a few years if I had no option. Iâd be careful not to keep it too long that way. Iâm not sure where the issue starts, but Iâd be reluctant to store fine wine for any extended period above ~64 degrees max. For me, the colder the better if youâre younger.
I have a bottle of 2010 Stags Leap Cask 23 that was purchased on release and has been stored passively for the first 6 years of its life, stored in a cheap wine fridge the next 2 years, and has only now moved into my conditioned wine cellar. Iâm going to pop it in a few weeks and Iâll let you know how things go. Iâm assuming they will be splendid!
*Footnote: The bottle in that same time period moved from DC to Atlanta to Philadelphia.
**Footnote 2: I had passive storage for the majority of my wines, up until about a month ago, and never one attributed bad bottles to my own home storage conditions. Many bad bottles over the years but never consistent enough to blame my cellar.
Iâve had bottles (of the same estate/vintage) at the same time with different provenance â 55F active, passive 50-70F, 70F room temp for a few years etc. â and the difference grows with time, quality, and body of the wine. Not much difference on a 1 yr old OZ ooze monster, but definitely bigger differences with a 20 year cru classe.
I would not go hyper over the differences, but if you really want to experience the benefits of cellaring, make the effort to find proper storage.
Rich Goldâs book on cellar design/principles gives a lot of good advice, and is worth the read.
Another way to look at it: Youâve been offered two different lots of good quality, aged wines, 10-20+ years old for the most part. The lots are priced pretty much the same and you can only afford one lot.
Lot A had been stored from purchase at 55-60 degrees, guaranteed. Lot B has been stored consistently in the mid-70s, but guaranteed no warmer.
Would anyone here be indifferent regarding which lot to buy? I know which one Iâd want. Every year I pay money I really donât have in storage costs for the good but not grand wines Iâve got; IMO, if you want the best from your wines, thereâs upkeep to consider, like with children.
Thatâs a reasonable perspective, Frank. It really comes down to what you want from the wines.
I agree that if you contemplate selling, it should be an advantage to list the lots as stored at 55 degrees since release. OTOH, auction houses donât always list the detailed history of storage temperatures this scenario assumes.
If youâre buying wines to drink within a decade, it probably doesnât make a lot of difference. If you plan to drink them after more than 10 years of aging and want to experience the best that they can deliver, there is a difference (despite anecdotal reports of fabulous poorly-stored bottles) and it makes sense to store at controlled temps. Resale value shouldnât be a consideration if you donât plan to sell, but sometimes you donât know that youâll be selling down the road.
I use professional storage for long term wines like most Bordeaux classed growths. A north facing, unheated space, with the wines in a covered stack for the shorter term, with the better bottles at the bottom for temperature stability. I was always told to look out for sudden changes in temperature, as being as harmful as higher temperatures.
Wines made with out added sulfur typically need cellar temperature storage even short term. If a wine is made âtraditionally â non-cellar temperature storage shouldnât be a problem for short to medium term.
Paul: Yes, rapid temperature swings are said to be bad. Iâm not sure of the evidence or science behind that. I suspect the magnitude of the change is more important than the speed but am willing to be educated. Gas will expand the same amount if exposed to a 10-degree increase whether it occurs over a day or 6 months. Maybe a sudden increase might be more likely to interfere with the cork seal?
Tom, not just wines with no added sulfur but those prone to Brett can be affected by temps in the high 60s/low 70s over a relatively short period of time.
Outstanding response. Itâs possible to kill a wine in a matter of hours if thereâs an unexpected temperature spike into the 80s. Any time I see a wine said to be stored in a passive cellar, I immediately pass.
Iâm not uncomfortable with storing wines in passive conditions in my plan is to consume them in the next 1-2 years. In 2014 I had a 1988 Dom Perignon that had been stored in a kitchen, about 8 ft away from the stove, in a wooden rack. It was sublimeâŚwould it have tasted fresher if it was always in the basementâŚIâm sure. However, my friend opened was still one of the best aged Champagne experiences Iâve had. I store anything that I plan to age 3+ year or longer in one of three Eurocaves, but Iâve had great luck aging wines in my fatherâs or friendâs passive basement. If youâre keeping the wines in a place with constant & cool temps, you should be fine. My friendâs basement is regularly around 55-60 degrees. Weâve opened wines from the early 90âs that have been there for the better part of 10-15 years & theyâre all still lovely wines. Wines are often more durable than many of us (myself included) believe.
This has always been a curious topic for me as I have always stored wine passively since I began âcollecting.â I started to love wine as soon as I was legally able to drink it and I am now 35 years old. However, despite my best efforts, there were always constraints on being able to afford enough quality wine to allow bottles to cellar longer than 5-6 years. In those cases, the wines were properly developed and tasted great. Most of the wines were California Cabernet, which are not delicate by any means.
The home I purchased in Northern New Jersey had an old canning/wine cellar (Italians) that was cinderblock and uninsulated, but would regularly maintain mid 50s in the winter and high 60âs in the summer. I have since insulated the cellar with rigid insulation and a weather proof door, to try and make things more consistent. There are no daily temperature fluctuations, only seasonal.
I am finally at the point where the pace of wine coming in is greatly exceeding the pace at which I am drinking it, so I hope to get 10 years or more out of the bottles I have, if applicable. Varietals include Cabernet, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Sangio, Chardonnay and are roughly 75% domestic and 25% foreign. I had considered getting a chiller unit, but I often struggle of whether it is necessary. I understand that the cost of a chiller unit may be small compared to a wine collection, but I also have a lot of competing home renovations that require $$. Especially if my drinking/cellaring habits donât warrant the expense.
Nothing in the OP would give me the slightest concern. There was an article long since lost to the web about Ch Margauxâ (or was it Moutonâs) passive cellar which regularly got into the low 60s, and had bottles well back into the 19th century. In your position, Iâd fill my cooler to capacity with my most age-able wines (additional mass will make cooling more efficient and stable) and keep the rest in the darkest and coolest spot available, and not give it another momentâs thought.
Now, to answer Frankâs question, if everything else were equal Iâd prefer the wine stored in a temp controlled space, but you are talking about selling the wine and the wines you are apparently talking about have no long term future anyway.
Another consideration might be what options for professional storage exist near you and how much does it cost? Living in Chicago, there are several places to store wine. A 24 case locker costs less than $400 a year. Unless one has a reasonably large living space and is willing to spend the money for a good cellar or wine refrigerators, this is a pretty economical alternative.