Save it or drink it?

Home wine cellar can keep wine in the best possible way

- ALISON DUMBELL

Step into my kitchen and I will cringe a little if you ask to look at my collection of wine. I have a few bottles standing up in cupboards, a couple of bottles in the refrigerator and even a couple of them stuffed into the back of my closet in the bedroom. Perhaps, this is a common occurrence for many of us. So, how can I improve my wine storage situation? Should I drink that fancy wine now or should I save it? Whether your bottle cost Rs500 or Rs50,000, we all have the right to enjoy it. Wine is the most sociable drink that can be enjoyed by anyone at any time or place. For me, the most important aspect of writing about wine is to get more people to enjoy the world of wine and help you realize that you don’t have to be an expert or a snob to appreciate it.

Let us start by describing a gold standard wine cellar. A wine cellar’s purpose is to protect your wine from light, vibration, and provide a steady cool temperature (between 7C and 18C) and relative humidity of 70%. It is a place where if you have the means (and taste for mature wine) you can safely store your wines to enjoy in the years ahead. Primarily, the purpose of your home wine cellar should be to keep your wine in the best possible condition so that you can enjoy it in the short term. We might all have opened a bottle that we kept in the kitchen cupboard and were disappointed. So here’s what we can do to minimise that possibility.