Summer temperatures and strong sunshine can be a disaster for wine. Wine is alive and if long-term storage is required, it is best to place it flat at constant temperature, humidity, ventilation and protection from light. Otherwise, it will also "get sick", with symptoms such as rough taste and unbalanced taste.
So, how to give wine a "preventive shot"?
Summer weather is hot, not only people are more afraid of heat, wine storage is also the same, a little careless, you will lose a bottle of good wine, so summer storage of wine needs to be more careful. In summer, wine storage is very elaborate in terms of temperature, humidity, light, etc. It's not right to put it upright and put it in the refrigerator. The optimal temperature for storing wine is 14 ~ 18 ° C, if the wine temperature is too high, the wine will become bitter and over-acidic; The temperature of the wine is too low, and the aroma and deliciousness cannot be effectively volatilized.
Cork-encapsulated wine is best placed flat or obliquely, in order to allow the liquor to come into contact with the cork to keep the cork moist. If the wine is placed upright, over time, the cork becomes dry and shrinks because it does not come into contact with the wine, so that the bottle mouth cannot be sealed. Air enters through the crevices, causing the wine to oxidize and deteriorate.
In addition to flattening, it is also necessary to pay attention to keeping the wine in a static state to avoid violent vibration, otherwise the molecular structure inside the wine is easily destroyed, thereby accelerating maturity, aging, and affecting the quality of the wine.
The humidity of the wine should be kept between 50% and 80%, and the influence of humidity mainly acts on the cork stopper, so the wine generally chooses to lie flat to ensure that the wine can be soaked into the cork stopper, so as to avoid the deterioration of the wine after the cork is dried.
There are four factors that affect wine storage, mainly temperature, humidity, light, vibration, of which temperature and humidity are more important in storage. In general, the best temperature for wine storage is 13 ° C, and the better humidity is 60% to 70%. Summer wine storage is more important, but also should pay more attention to the quality of preservation of the season.
If a bottle of wine stored in a low temperature environment for a long time is suddenly exposed to high temperature, it will cause an overreaction of the wine body, the wine is also alive, and the temperature is too large, which will seriously affect the taste of the wine, making it rough and the taste out of balance. Therefore, when storing wine in summer, attention should be paid to narrowing the difference with the outside temperature, and the storage temperature can be raised by 1-2 ° C in an appropriate amount.
Most of us don't have cellars or professional wine cabinets at home, so how can we better store our wines during the hot summer? I believe that some readers will say, is it good to turn on the air conditioner? But in some cases, even if we have air conditioning in our homes, if we don't pay attention, it can still cause thermal damage to the wine. We should keep the wine away from certain items with large thermal fluctuations, such as windows, ovens or refrigerators; It should also be avoided to leave the wine in the garage or attic, as these spaces will amplify the magnitude of the heat change. At home, the ideal storage place is best protected from light, no large vibrations or strong noise places.