I recently built a small wine cellar in the basement. Three walls are cedar planks and the forth wall is painted a dark brown where my wine racks will end up. My question is what should the average temperature and humidity levels be set at. I have a appox. 100 bottles. an equal amount of red and white. Thanks
Assuming you want your cellar area to be for storage alone, the ideal temperature range is 50-55 degrees - the same for whites and reds. Whites will benefit slightly from lower temperatures - 45 degrees - but the advantage is di minimis. Ideal humidity is 60-75%.
Unless wine storage temperatures are critical to the wine, as with a valuable wine collection, wine will tolerate a temperature up to 59 degrees with little perceptible impact.
Temperature is important in wine storage due to its impact on aging and other chemical changes. These changes are impacted exponentially when the temperature increases over 55 degrees. For example, the impact of storage at 59 degrees can be expressed as 1.2 - 1.5, while the impact at 73 degrees is 2.1 - 8.0.
Here's a link to an excellent article on the subject:
http://www.wineperspective.com/STORAGE TEMPERATURE & AGING.htm
Three final points. First, temperature variation is critical in wine storage and it's important to make certain the temperature does not fluctuate often. Second, make certain the area chosen is not subject to vibration, such as near air conditioning systems. Third, humidity is most important in cork maintenance rather than the wine, itself.
Tony P.
