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For many, a relationship with wine can often be short lived while others have the patience, the space and inclination to explore cellaring wine.

A wine cellar does not have to be a complicated process, a closet that meets the recommended conditions described below will do. Here’s a brief overview of what to consider in establishing your wine cellar.

Temperature and humidity: Temperatures from 10 to 14 degrees C means wine will mature at an ideal pace. Any colder and the wine ages more slowly, any warmer and its evolution is too rapid. Consistency of temperature is the most important element. Consider first the north side or the side of the basement that is entirely underground. Ideally, the humidity should be between 60 and 70 per cent. A humidity control feature is most important with a that refrigerated wine cabinets.

Light: White wines in particular can be very sensitive in direct light. A cellar should be in shadow or even darkness. You can turn on the lights of your cellar occasionally but do not leave this them on consistently. In no situation should neon lights be used in your wine cellar. If you are using a cabinet with glass doors, you need to ensure they are UV resistant.

Air quality: Storing wine in areas which are exposed to strong odours is to be avoided e.g. root cellar, heating oil etc. You can find these odours can quickly get into the wine itself. {In general, the area where you store your wine should be well ventilated proposed area for your cellar really needs to have good ventilation}.

Vibration: At a chemical level, the creation of long chains of molecules is what causes wines to age. This process is disrupted by any sudden movement, so avoid handling your bottles roughly or unnecessarily and don’t put your cellar under the stairs or near the compressor, furnace or washer. Make sure that refrigerated wine cabinets have a mechanism to isolate the wine from the compressor vibrations.

Bottle position: Most wines should be lying down to ensure permanent contact of the liquid with the cork, keeping the seal completely tight. Certain types of wine can be stored standing up: ports and sherries (where a composite closure of plastic-natural cork is used); wines with screw cap closures.

There is one thing that a wine lover really can’t do without and that is good wine cellar design or wine storage to store their best wines as they improve with age. Wine is unique as it can get better with age, unlike most other beverages. The more supple or complex wines that spend a reasonable amount of time in a cellar are the best to drink.

Even cheap and cheerful reds will usually get a little softer and more attractive after around 6 months, although most budget whites are best drunk young.

At the same time, bad cellaring can ruin any wine so any wine bottle that are going to be stored for more than 12 months need proper storage.

Your wine cellar can be simple. An underground area is always best, and assuming you’ve got the right conditions, a wine cellar can simply be a crate kept under the stairs.

Wines generally need to be kept cool and below 18 degrees celsius.

For best cellaring results, you should keep the cellar’s temperature quite steady whereby it changes by less than two degress from warmer summer months to cold winters.

In addition, humid conditions work well for corked wines as corks need to be kept relatively moist. Corked wines need to be positioned on their side while for screwcaps bottles, either vertical or side positions are fine.

There are numerous options for cellaring wine regardless if you don’t think you’ve got space in your house or live in a flat.

Firstly, you can get a wine fridge. These start from a couple of hundred dollars and come in sizes ranging from 24 bottles for the novice to a couple of thousand bottles for the serious collector.

There are also some companies that specialise in wine storage and they will keep your wines in perfect condition until they are ripe for drinking. 

Importantly wines made from only some grape varieties age particularly well.

For white wines, the best Rieslings, Chardonnays and Semillons are a good place to start with Clare and Eden Valley Riesling, Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills and Margaret River as well as Hunter Valley Semillon dependable options.

For cellaring red wines, great Cabernet Sauvs aged well especially thoese from Margaret River, Yarra Valley and Coonawarra as well as Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Central Victoria which you should keep for 15 to 20 years in the right conditions.

Now is the great time to get into wine storage and keep those reds in your cellar or under your bed. Don’t you want to have your own wine cellar? You won’t need to renovate your home. A wine cellar can simply be a few cases of red you keep in a cupboard for a number of years.

During this time, your wine begins to evolve from youthful awkwardness to mellow maturity. A pure pleasure to be experienced is consuming a well aged, mature bottle of wine. So you should get wine cellar started.

It is well documented that we are experiencing a wine glut, mostly with premium red wines such as cabernet sauvignon. This situation occurs at the same time as a big shake up with major wine producers Southcorp, Orlando Wyndham and Hardy, and also rising retail competition between Coles Myer and Woolworths.

With wholesale wine distribution been impacted, some larger names including Tuckers have disappearing with new mega-relationships being formed. While wine sales overseas continues to grow for lower end wines, many premium grapes remained are unsold and often unpicked.

Once you’ve determined what wine you want to buy, researching for prices and special on the internet or wine publications is easy. See Houghton, Saltram and Yalumba, Penfolds, Wynns, Hardy. Consider some adding smaller wines to your collection such as Tahbilk, Knappstein, d’Arenberg, Peter Lehmann and St Hallett. Plus you’ll always find newer players are also trying to move up.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the countless number of wines on the shelf, find yourself a good independent bottle shop to get great advise. While maybe not be the cheapest, independent advice may lead to you buying some very valuable wines over time and avoid the duds.

If you’ve decided to store wine, you need to find a cool spot to keep them, ideally a cool place in the garage. Alternatively, go to a storage facility such as Wine Vault, Wine Ark or Kennards and rent some space.Start off with some great 2002 wines and consider some well known 2003 vintages, then the wait begins.

Most red wines are meant to be stored from two to five years, comparatively your bolder, full-bodied reds from should be stored from six to eight years – with some twice that amount of time.

South Australia with its shiraz and cabernet sauvignon grapes, remains the true home of the traditional full-bodied reds. In the Barossa Valley the favourite wines such as Grant Burge, Barossa Valley Estate and Peter Lehmann can be found while some newer brands including Glaetzer, Thorn Clarke and Two Hands are also worth noting. McLaren Vale has some great new wineries such as Mr Riggs, Dowie Doole and Kangarilla Road, to accompany some more established bands like Woodstock, Wirra Wirra, Maglieri, Geoff Merrill and Tatachilla.

Clare Valley names has great labels such as Mitchell, Pikes, Sevenhill, Tim Adams and Kilikanoon who provide earnest, earthy reds for affordable prices. While Coonawarra has emerging winemakers Majella, Penley Estate and Balnaves to accompany their established as Bowen, Leconfield, Hollick and Rymill wineries.

Heathcote region is the best stored Victorian shiraz while you should also look to Jasper Hill, Heathcote Winery and Hanging Rock, Shelmerdine, Heathcote Estate and Shadowfax.

Grampian Red Wines are a great wine to store with Seppelt a leading label plus Mount Langi Ghiran and Great Western. Then look to cabernets from Nagambie Lakes (Tahbilk and Mitchelton) and shiraz and cabernet from the Pyrenees (Taltarni, Warrenmang and Dalwhinnie).

When looking at Western Australia and especially Margaret River, you can find such well reown and rarely disappointing cabernet blends including Cape Mentelle, Cullen and Moss Wood. When looking to New South Wales, you’ll find great red wines to store in in Mudgee. Poet’s Corner reds such as Montrose Black Shiraz and Henry Lawson Cabernet Sauvignon are also great value.

Wine is among probably the most broadly loved and valued drinks in the planet, but also one of probably the most complicated. You will find so numerous important issues surrounding wine, in specific how to store it. Wine will last a lifetime, providing you take the time to produce a proper wall mounted wine rack in the perfect atmosphere.

The significance of locating proper wine storage devices is significant. If you want to keep your wine from perishing or aging too early, you are likely to need to make sure that the atmosphere that you’re holding your wine in is up to par and proper for wine storage conditions.

Of all the different issues that require to be considered in relation to proper wine storage, you will find several that are of particular significance, and which will be outlined in more detail here.

Wine Temperature

The very firstissue you need to think about in the case of storing your wine is temperatures. Few other aspects will hold more of a role in causing your wine to perish than the temperature that it is being kept at. Even though you might not have the ideal situations for storage, if you’ve an optimal level of temperature then you will be okay.

The proper wine storage temperatures is in between 50 and 65ºF, and when kept within this temperature range your wine will evolve nicely. If you keep the temperatures too cold, the corks within the bottle will shrink and oxygen is going to be in a position to enter in, and if you keep the temperatures too warm the wine may lose essence.

Position

The placement that you store your wine in is also really important. You should usually keep the wine bottles on their sides, as this keeps the wine in contact with the cork that helps prevent oxygen from getting in the wine. When the cork is kept moist it will keep it  from drying out, and this really is important simply because if it dries out it will shrink and allow air to enter the bottle.
Natural Sun Light

For correct wine rack storage, you need to make sure that there is no direct sun light pointing on the wine. If wine is kept in a very hot area or in direct light, the improve in temperatures can result in a chemical reaction that can affect the flavor and fragrance of the wine.

By keeping these helpful suggestions at heart and understanding the importance of storing wine properly, you will probably be in a position to make it keep and have it taste delicious, perhaps many years in the future.