Wine Know-How: Storing Wine

So you've gone to the store and picked up a few bottles of wine over the last few weeks, but you haven't gotten around to drinking them yet. Now they are just sitting there on your kitchen counter, or in a box in the garage, or in the trunk of your car, while you wait for the opportune time to open one up. You would love to put them away, somewhere that they can be stored properly, but you're just not sure what "properly" is. Well, never fear, storing wine the right way is not as hard as it seems.

First off, before you go through any great lengths to proper wine storage, decide how long you are likely to keep your bottles before drinking them. If you know there isn't a chance that they will last longer than a month, then letting them sit on top of your counter is just fine. However, if you are starting to collect a few bottles and are planning on keeping them for a "special occasion"or just sometime down the road, there are a few simple rules you should follow to ensure optimal preservation.

• Store unopened wine in a cool, dark place. The optimal temperature for storing most wines is between 45-65 degrees F. The other key factor is to keep the temperature as even as possible. If you don't have a wine cooler, the next best place in your apartment is a closet. Closets tend to stay cooler than the rest of your home, and maintain a fairly stable temp.
  
• Store the bottle horizontally. This allows the cork to say moist. A cork that drys out can crack while opening, or can crack on its own causing the wine to oxygenate and essentially ruin the bottle before you even notice. You can buy simple wine racks and put them at the bottom of the closet next to your shoes, or if you have a wine store nearby ask them if you can have and old case box still with the cardboard dividers in it, and keep that in your closet on its side.
  
• Most wines you pick up at the grocery store are produced to be consumed shortly after purchased. Unless you are really familiar with the winery and how well their wines age, don't plan on storing a bottle longer than 2-3 years from the vintage.