Skip to content
As a wine connoisseur, the worst thing that could happen is investing in a fine wine that you want to store for a big occasion and finding out that it’s gone off. Whatever the occasion may be, the last thing that you want is to find out that you’ve invested in a bottle of fine wine and not even be able to enjoy it because it's gone off. When wine goes off, there’s no saving it.
Wine storage is a crucial step when it comes to wine tasting, you want to have the ideal temperature in order to keep your bottle fresh for as long as possible.
Our expert in-house team has put together this article to help you gain more understanding about wine storage and how the right temperatures can prevent your wine from going off. To stop your bottles of fine wine from going off - don’t make poor decisions when it comes to storing your wine.
Does Unopened Wine Go Off?
So, do unopened bottles of fine wine ever go off? Unopened wine can indeed go bad when stored incorrectly. Unopened wine has a much longer shelf life compared to an open bottle of wine.
Unopened bottles of wine may be consumed by their printed expiration date, but only if it smells and tastes okay. There are a few factors that come into play regarding the shelf life of your unopened bottle of wine, such as the type of wine, your storage surroundings and many more.
Many fine wines are crafted and made to last for decades without going off. You may have heard of the old saying ‘ageing like fine wine’ which comes from the ageing process of fine wines. Fine wines actually get better over time, but they can only get better if they’re stored correctly.
Here are some key tips and factors that you need to take into consideration when it comes to preventing your fine wine from going off.
Temperature
One of the most important factors in keeping your wine from going off is maintaining and having a consistent temperature level. If there are extreme temperature changes happening, then it will cause the wine particles to expand and contract - this will eventually lead to seepage.
Temperature for wine storage can cause many debates among wine connoisseurs, with many people believing that wine should be kept at different temperatures than recommended. As professionals, Dunavox specialists know the right temperature to keep your wine in - if you need any additional information on this, be sure to reach out to us today.
We’ve found that the ideal temperature to store your fine wine is anywhere between 45° and 65° with many people keeping their wine at exactly 55°. If you have your wine at a temperature of above 70°, there’s a high chance that your wine can degrade. If your temperatures are too cold in your wine cooler, then it could potentially dry out the cork in the bottle leading to oxygen getting inside the bottle.
We highly recommend that you don’t attempt to store your wine inside a regular kitchen refrigerator, as they’re usually at a temperature of around 40°. Traditional kitchen fridges shouldn’t be used for keeping your fine wines in.
Lighting
It’s crucial that you keep light exposure on your wine bottles to an absolute minimum. You should always store your fine wine in a place that’s away from natural light - this is because natural light from the sun can cause a build-up of heat inside your bottle of wine, which speeds up the oxidation process.
Storing your bottles of fine wine away from natural light will ensure that you get cooler, better conditions and prevent harmful UV rays lights from affecting your wine collections. By keeping your wine away from harmful UVs, your wine will taste much nicer.
The best lighting option when storing wine is LED. LED light sources create a soft glow but don’t give off any harmful heat that can damage your wine bottle. UV rays can affect your bottle of wine massively, this is why red wine comes in tinted glass bottles to help prevent light exposure on store shelves.
Refrigeration
One of the main enemies when it comes to storing wine is oxygen. When you open a bottle of wine, oxygen will start to interact, and over time, your wine will start to change its composition. Oxygen isn’t always bad, often helping to open up the wine and release its tasty aromas for you to enjoy.
However, if your wine is exposed to oxygen for an extended period of time, then it will start to degrade and give off a sour taste, ultimately making it undrinkable.
The easiest way to slow down the oxidation process is by placing your bottle of wine in refrigeration. As we previously spoke about, we don’t recommend that you keep your wine inside your kitchen fridge - if you have a vast collection of wine, we recommend taking a browse across our site and finding the ideal cooler product from Dunavox.
Whilst a cool temperature can’t completely stop your wine from breaking down when opened, it can seriously slow down the process significantly. By investing in a wine cooler, you’ll be able to get the full value out of your fine wines.
Wine coolers (freestanding wine cooler, built-in wine cooler, etc) allow you to set the correct temperature to suit your collection best, with the majority of our models having dual temperature zones that allow you to store specific bottles of wine at different temperature variants. If you require any additional information about any of our products, be sure to reach out to a member of the Dunavox team today.