Wine Storage Temperatures

[macstuff]

Hello Everyone,


I have been lurking on this forum for a few weeks reading up on this awesome hobby. I am ready to begin with my first kit wine, but I am not sure where I would stash all of this bottled wine once it is done.


I obviously don't have a cellar or a basement as I live in Texas and temps get pretty high in the summer. Where do the noob's store their wine while it is aging? Does the hot summer months hurt your wine while in the bottle? Temps in my house are normally in the low 70's in the summer.


Thanks for the time on this and I look forward to your answers.

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome to the FVW forums Macstuff!

Low 70's, in Texas, in the Summer! That would be called an Oasis IMHO.

But seriously its not necessarily moderately warm heat that hurts wine the most, its wide temperature fluctuations day to day that age wines the fastest and ultimately harm them the most. Keep the wine in someplace that is well insulated, away from heat and especially sunlight. A kitchen is the worst place to store wine. Even an unused closet is a good choice, especially if it is centrally located inside the house. Find someplace dark with the least amount of temperature swing during the course of the day and you will have found the best place in your house to store your precious cargo.

 

[macstuff]

Thanks for the reply ibglowin. The pics from all of your wine have basically been the inspiration for me to start this little project. Looks pretty professional to me.


So basically just find a centrally located closet and store there. Sounds logical. I just didn't buy that everyone here keeps their storage room 55 degrees year round. Iwish I could do that, but no dice. I also don't want to kill something that I have put a yearof my life into. It sounds like the waiting will be tough.


Thanks.

 

[Scott B]

Welcome to the Party!

What part of Texas are you from?

 

[Goodfella]

The waiting is tough on the first one, But it is worth it.


Just plan on doing some each year.... So in 2 years you can be drinking this years.... Meanwhile you have next years for the following... ect.... ect.


You can always have a nice stash of properly aged wine!!!




P.S. Welcome to the forum

 

[RickC]

I also live in Texas anduse an interior closet. We keep our house in the upper 70's in the summer. For that reason I only make wine during other seasons when the house is coolerand do thebulk aging and bottlingthe rest of the year.

 

[RickC]

Oops, forgot. Welcome to the forum. There are a great bunch of folks here.

 

[vcasey]

The waiting is tough on the first one, But it is worth it.


Just plan on doing some each year.... So in 2 years you can be drinking this years.... Meanwhile you have next years for the following... ect.... ect.


You can always have a nice stash of properly aged wine!!!




P.S. Welcome to the forum

2 years, but they're still babies!

 

[macstuff]

Thanks for the welcome. Arlington Texas is where I call home.

 

[ibglowin]

Close to the source, dangerously close...........

 

[macstuff]

Very close! That will most likely be a bad thing for my checking account balance. It is close enough that I will be able to join their winemaking club and drink some good wine while I wait for mine.

 

[Goodfella]

The waiting is tough on the first one, But it is worth it.


Just plan on doing some each year.... So in 2 years you can be drinking this years.... Meanwhile you have next years for the following... ect.... ect.


You can always have a nice stash of properly aged wine!!!




P.S. Welcome to the forum

2 years, but they're still babies!

Haha.... C'mon.... 2 years to a new guy is a dawnting task!!! haha

 

[Wade E]

Living so close can be good or bad thing! The good thing about it is obviously getting to meet the FVW guys in person and shoot the sh!t with them but let not forget that even if you didnt live close you would be buying all this stuff anyways due to the sickness that will come over you once you start so living right there will save you he shipping cost. The bad thing obviously is when you are bored you just might say hey, lets go over to Georges and get better look at his inventory!!!!

 

[Runningwolf]

Living so close can be good or bad thing! The good thing about it is obviously getting to meet the FVW guys in person and shoot the sh!t with them but let not forget that even if you didnt live close you would be buying all this stuff anyways due to the sickness that will come over you once you start so living right there will save you he shipping cost. The bad thing obviously is when you are bored you just might say hey, lets go over to Georges and get better look at his inventory!!!!

...or you might say lets go over to Georges and count peanuts

 

[Bacci]

I'm located in Lower AL, on the Gulf of Mexico that is. My inventory is stored in a walk-in closet on SE corner, furtherest away from the afternoon sun. We kept it around 72 year round, but when temps get extreme, it fluctuates 7 or 8 degrees. My questions is, i'm thinking about adding a central air vent in the closet (from the bedroom vent), keeping the door closed andhopingto keeptemp cooler in thesummer and just close vent off in winter, if needed. Just regulate withvent by my Hi-LO thermo. Any thoughts on that.

 

[ibglowin]

7-8 degree temp swings is not all that bad really. The Gulf Coast region has one thing going weather wise and that is it usually only has about a 20 degree temp change from low to high (on average). Here in the desert Southwest our average is closer to 30 degree so much more opportunity for larger swings where ever your wine is kept.

Keep it as cool as possible how ever you can and within your budget.

My winery/cellar is ~200 sq ft and I added extra attic insulation above it. I added a small window AC for the Summer and I can keep it at 66 degrees pretty easily and the WInter is well not a problem. I keep it at 55 and use a small electric heater if needed to warm it up a bit.

 

[bcfryer]

I have been zoned in on this topic as I was wondering how great or not so great my area was for clearing stabilizing and aging.It is an enclosed under stairwell area in my basement. The front half of thebasement is 75% in the ground with a masonry wall and the rear of the basement is 0 % in the ground. Walk out to a pool deck. Under the stairwell gets 70 degrees in the summer and 50 degrees in the winter like this week. Since the kids are no longer at home we do not keep the central AC / Heat running in the basement. Temp swings are minimal from day to night,and from season to seasonthe temp will changefrom 50 to 70 degrees.


I ferment in the main house under central heat and ac control at 72 degrees, do the degassing, add sorbate and bisulphite and clearing agents and then walk the 6 gallons down to thedark basement closet area for clearing and aging. Bottling is done in the downstairs kitchen and then agedin the bottle in thestairwell closet in the basement .


All seems well now. Is the 50 degree storage area ok for reds as well as white wines? 50 degrees in the winter months to70 degrees in the summer months. Thats the most temp swing I get down in the wine closet. too cold?

 

[ibglowin]

Sounds pretty darn close to perfect.

The 50 degree low is only 5 degrees from the magic 55 degree temp that is considered "the perfect temp" but I suspect that only happens during really cold snaps and then will bump back up closer to 55. The 70 is also a great top end temp considering you are not cooling with an A/C and your in Georgia!

The key here is that you have small decreases downward over the Fall/Winter and small incremental increases over theSpring/Summer so a slow expansion or "breathing" of the wine instead of big constant swings that cause the wine to huff and puff each day with large temp swings.

 

[Bartman]

Temperature and the absence of vibrations are the most important conditions, but relatively high, stable humidity is the third leg of the "ideal" wine storage conditions. The hoity-toity wine caves/cellars will have temperature and humidity controls, similar to walk-in cigar humidors, so they should be sealed "systems" if they are inside your home (weather-stripped doors and separate ventilation).

If it is planned during construction, a small, independent A/C-heater unit and humidifier (and the associated plumbing) inside a closet-size area or under the stairs is not really cost-prohibitive. Probably in the neighborhood of $500-$1,000, if you can spare the square footage and aren't expanding the house for that sole purpose. My wife would have a hard time allowing a significant, functional portion of the house to be used for wine storage instead of something more useful, like shoe or purse storage.