Wine cellars are often thought of as outdated, but they are still very relevant in our society today. For instance, if you are a wine connoisseur, you might want to store wines so that they can age gracefully. Storing them in a cellar is often a better idea than storing them in an area such as a fridge, since the former often provides a perfect environment for them to age properly.
The main reason why aged wines are in such high demand is that they are often of very high quality, and usually tend to be very expensive. You can therefore think of getting a cellar as an investment. The money you spend on building one can be recouped by selling some of the wine, and in many cases you can make a handsome profit out of the trade. However, there are a few things that influence this. One is the fact that you have to choose the right type of wine to store in the cellar.
Some people might think that storing the wine in a cellar is far too expensive, and might instead opt to store it in other dark areas such as cabinet that you don’t use much. However, for wine to age properly, it has to be subjected to a set of conditions that allow it to do so, and this can only be provided in a cellar. Some of these include:
The right amount of light
The presence of too much light is not good for proper aging of the wine. The reason for this is that light usually has energy, particularly if it’s from the sun. When this energy comes into contact with some chemicals such as those found in wine, it causes a chemical reaction to occur more rapidly than it usually does. For instance, if there are compounds in wine that usually oxidize, the presence of sunlight and other types of light might make this reaction faster.
This is not a good thing because it alters the taste of the wine. In the end, you will end up with a wine that has been aged for a long time, but which will not taste right when you first open it. In a cellar, there is usually very little sunlight, which means that this is usually not a problem to worry about.
Wine should be left to sit for a while
The other thing that is required for wine to age properly is not being moved around a lot. If you keep shaking or otherwise moving a bottle of vintage wine, it will end up having a different taste to what you expect since the motion of moving it around can change its chemical composition. If you store it in a cellar, this is unlikely to happen. For one, the fact that the cellar is usually in the basement means that it’s usually very difficult for people to get there even accidentally, so the chances of them touching the wine is minimal. In addition to that, most wine racks are usually designed in such a manner that they don’t allow the bottles of wine to move around, which helps in their aging.
The temperature
As is the case with light, temperature can also have an effect on the rate of chemical reactions. When you subject any substance to higher temperatures, it has a higher chance of reacting with other items more readily. This also applies to wine. The goal of aging the wine is to slow down this process as much as possible in order to allow it to develop a more delicate taste as it matures. By reducing the temperature of the wine, you can achieve this.
However, you also have to remember that there are limits that you can work with. For instance, there are some wines that will only age properly if they are stored at a temperature of around 4 degrees centigrade. This means that if you store them in room temperature or in a freezer, you might not get the taste you want out of the wine.
When you store the wines in the cellar, you have the chance to ensure that the temperature in the surroundings is maintained at a specific point. This is usually done by investing in wine cellar cooling units which are designed specifically for this.
In summary, if you are interested in storing wine so that it ages properly, it would be wise for you to consider spending money on a cellar. This is something that might seem expensive at first, but it will always turn out to be a good idea given the fact that they provide the perfect environment for such aging. However, this is subject to a number of factors, the most important of which is making sure that the cellar is properly designed.
