Are you thinking about serving several bottles of wine with your holiday meal? Do you have a wine cellar or wine refrigeration unit in your home? If not, you’ll want to give some thought about how you plan on storing the wine until meal time. Otherwise, it could end up not tasting as well as you had hoped. Here’s some of what you need to know:
Kitchen Refrigerator
According to food and safety guidelines, a kitchen refrigerator’s internal temperature should be kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Wine, on the other hand, needs to be kept at a constant temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It should also be kept in an area that is free of odors, vibrations, light and excessive humidity. Therefore, it is not a good idea to use your kitchen refrigerator to store your holiday wines. If you don’t have such an area in your home, you may want to consider investing in a wine refrigerator unit.
Wine Refrigeration Units
Wine refrigeration units come in many different shapes, styles and sizes. The smallest wine refrigeration unit that I know of sells for $69 to $90 through home improvement stores. The unit stores one bottle of fortified wine in an upright position. Although some manufacturers may tout that their single bottle storage units may be used to house other types of wines, I would not recommend that you do it for one important reason. Bottles of table wines and port-style wines should be stored on their side so the cork doesn’t dry out. If the cork does dry out, it shrinks. The gaps created by the shrinking cork allow air to enter the bottle, which will eventually turn the wine into vinegar. It will also allow odors to enter the bottle as well. Those odors may be absorbed by the wine and give it an off-putting flavor and aroma.
Based on my experience, a wine refrigeration unit that allows bottles of wine to be stored horizontally is the better option. Providing that the wine refrigeration unit’s interior shelves are adjustable or removable, it may be used to store all types of wine. You can generally purchase a six bottle wine refrigeration unit through home improvement stores and specialty retailers for $80 or more. If you do decide to go that route, I’d suggest that you consider purchasing a wine refrigeration unit with an adjustable temperature control. That way, you can use it to store your white, rose and sparkling wines at the proper serving temperature as well.
Wine Racks
If you are fortunate enough to have an area in your home that is conducive to wine storage, you won’t need to invest in a wine refrigeration unit. You could opt to store the wine in a homemade or commercially manufactured wine rack instead. In my opinion, vitrified clay pipe makes a great, homemade wine rack. If you can’t lay your hands on vitrified clay pipe, you could always purchase Terra Cotta Tiles from Superior Clay. The company’s Terra Cotta Tiles are specifically designed to create custom wine racks. You can find out more information about the tiles online.
Other Options
If purchasing a wine refrigeration unit or investing in a wine rack is out of the question, you may have another option. Sometimes wine retailers will agree to hold onto their customer’s pre-purchased bottles of wine until the day before the holiday. Of course not all wine retailers are able or willing to provide such services. Therefore, it is best to contact the wine retailers in your area far in advance and ask if they’d be willing or able to assist you with your wine storage needs.
Source: Personal Experience
Killeen Gonzalez has a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. She is a former special events planner.
More from this contributor:
How to Make a Wine and Ice Christmas Centerpiece
The Proper Way to Serve Non-Sparkling Wines
How to Set Up a Full Party Bar
Eight Wine Styles Explained
