Once you have made your wine, the work doesn’t stop there. You now need to ensure that it is stored correctly. If it isn’t, it could ruin the wine and give it a sour flavor.
If you want to wine to retain its quality, there is a process you should follow. Here, we’ll look at the main things you need to do in order to store your wine correctly.
Make Sure You Use a Quality Cork
It may seem like a small detail, but the cork you choose to bottle the wine is extremely important. It helps to determine the quality of the wine, with poor quality corks potentially causing the wine to oxidize.
Ideally, you’ll want to look out for a cork that is long and less porous. This is because this type of cork creates the best barrier. It enables you to potentially age the wine further too, giving it more of a full flavor. It may sound trivial, but the type of cork you choose can potentially improve or ruin the wine.
What to Do Immediately After Bottling
Once you have bottled the wine, you’ll need to make sure it stays in an upright position for around 3-5 days. This ensures the cork has time to fully expand, creating a tight seal at the top of the bottle. If you don’t give it time to expand, the wine could leak when you lay it down on its side.
You should also check how long you need to store the wine for. Does it need to age for a specific amount of time? If so, don’t forget to add this to the label, marking down when it will be best to drink it.
Where Should You Store It?
Homemade wine is best stored in a cool, dark environment. You can store it on its side in a wine rack, making sure the temperature of the room remains consistent. If you don’t have a wine cellar, you can invest in bespoke wine racks. These are designed to keep the wine in an optimal environment.
Temperature and Humidity
The most important things to pay attention to when storing wine are the temperature and the humidity. If the room is too hot or cold, it’s going to ruin the wine. The optimal temperature to store the wine will depend upon the type you have made. Generally speaking, wine is best stored in temperatures of around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
No matter what type of wine you have made, never store it below 25 degrees Fahrenheit as this could cause the wine to freeze. You should also make sure the humidity is between 60% and 68%.
Knowing how to store your homemade wine correctly can help you to achieve the best results. Store it incorrectly, and it could ruin your entire batch. The above are the most important things to consider when storing wine. Ideally, you should sort out where you will be storing it before you’ve even made it.
