One of the reasons why people can enjoy great-tasting wine
is because these wines have been properly handled and stored
prior to tasting and consuming . This means storing these wines
efficiently where there is low lighting and keeping them at the correct even ambient temperature.
UV lighting causes oxidation and degradation of the wine body.
This often manifests as excessive production of sedimentation.
Also wines that are stored at too warm a condition accelerates
their aging process adding to the problem. On the other hand ,
wines that are too cold will cause them to lose all or some of the “notes” in the taste spectrum flavors.
This could be indicated by crystallization of organic components out of the wine thus
affecting flavor badly . Wines that are stored either too warm or too cold a do not
achieve the best final flavors, than if they were kept at the right temperature. Note red
wines are prone to sedimentation whilst white wines can give crystallization.
It is also important that wine is stored in a horizontal position and not moved or
rotated about the horizontal axis of the bottle. This is for two reasons . Today many
wines are corked using plastic foam corks whilst some are using screw tops but most
good wines are still corked using natural cork . By storing the bottles horizontally the
cork tip remains wet , and this causes the cork to want to expand internally .
This causes huge internal pressure resulting in a perfect seal to any air entering the
bottle, which would be the kiss of death to the wines flavor. Also any slow leakage of
the wine and the evaporation gives minute amounts of a sticky wine tar around the cork
also helping to finally block any air migration that might happen .
This secondary sealing also helps to effect a perfect seal using the more modern sealers
should there be a minor problem there .
The other reason for storing wine in a fixed position concerns the issue
of sedimentation particularly with red wine .When you are about to serve the wine you
want to know where the sediment is likely to be . If you store the wine horizontally with
the label pointing up then the sediment , if there is any would be along the back line of
the bottle .
So when you serve the wine you don’t have to shake it about and/or hunt for any
sediment but rather just follow a standard procedure of best practice to get ultimate
result every time.
When you are about to serve the wine and are ready, open your thermoelectric
wine cooler unit and gently remove the bottle, place this upright on your table top and
open without too much movement . Remove the cork and check its condition . If it is
wet along most of the length then you might get a hint that it is "over the hill " and this
may prompt extra caution especially if you have guests.Next pour a small amount into
a spare glass to review the wine by nose etc , and to see if there are any cork pieces
from the top . Finally give it a taste for potential and to avoid having a guest gag for
having the first hit .
Really what this means is to allow any astringent vinegar–like volatiles which can be
very strong to evaporate out of the wine body.
This is quite a tricky issue as some of these astringent components remaining can take
a while to go. Some wine buffs say some wines are better the next day
[ If you allow any to survive the evening ! ]
Finally serve the wine with the label pointing in the correct direction , that is if
you stored it label up , then pour it label up . Carefully , noting when to stop if there
is any sediment near the end of the bottles contents . You don’t want to pour a glass
of muddy slush for your favorite blond [and visa versa !]
A good thermoelectric wine cooler is the modern way to go .The contents
will mostly be more expensive that the cost price of the unit itself .
Its a good no brainer investment! Finally your drinking temperature is not
necessarily your storage temperature.You can adjust this prior to drinking
based on personal tastes . Happy wine hours !
Aside from the great features provided by the thermoelectric wine cooler,
it is also very affordable, making it easier for everyone to attain the ultimate wine
enjoyment experience .
So if you are a wine enthusiast and you want to make sure that you and your guests
only taste wine at its finest, then you will definitely want to have a modern automatic
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