Winemaking - Vinification - Wine Making Process - Learn to Make Your Own Wine

The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine more than any other factor. Grape quality is affected by variety as well as weather during the growing season, soil minerals and acidity, time of harvest, and pruning method. The combination of these effects is often referred to as the grape's terroir.

Grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard in the autumn (fall), in the northern hemisphere from early September until the beginning of November, or the middle of February until the beginning of March in the southern hemisphere.

The most common species of wine grape is Vitis vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of European origin.

Harvest is the picking of the grapes and in many ways the first step in wine production. Grapes are either harvested mechanically or by hand. The decision to harvest grapes is typically made by the winemaker and informed by the level of sugar (called °Brix), acid (TA or Titratable Acidity as expressed by tartaric acid equivalents) and pH of the grapes. Other considerations include phenological ripeness, berry flavor, tannin development (seed colour and taste). Overall disposition of the grapevine and weather forecasts are taken into account.

The corkscrew shaped feed auger sits on top of a mechanical crusher/destemmer. Grape clusters are then fed into the machine where they are first crushed, then destemmed. Stems exit at the end while juice, skins, seeds and some debris exit the bottom.

Mechanical harvesters are large tractors that straddle grapevine trellises and, using firm plastic or rubber rods, strike the fruiting zone of the grapevine to dislodge the grapes from the rachis. Mechanical harvesters have the advantage of being able to cover a large area of vineyard land in a relatively short period of time, and with a minimum investment of manpower per harvested ton.

A disadvantage of mechanical harvesting is the indiscriminate inclusion of foreign non-grape material in the product, especially leaf stems and leaves, but also, depending on the trellis system and grapevine canopy management, may include moldy grapes,canes, metal debris, rocks and even small animals and bird nests. Some winemakers remove leaves and loose debris from the grapevine before mechanical harvesting to avoid such material being included in the harvested fruit. In the United States mechanical harvesting is seldom used for premium winemaking because of the indiscriminate picking and increased oxidation of the grape juice. In other countries (such as Australia and New Zealand), mechanical harvesting of premium winegrapes is more common because of general labor shortages.

Manual harvesting is the hand-picking of grape clusters from the grapevines. In the United States, grapes are traditionally picked into 30 pound boxes, and in many cases these boxes are consolidated into ½ ton bins or two-ton bins for transport to the winery. Manual harvesting has the advantage of using knowledgeable labor to not only pick the ripe clusters but also to leave behind the clusters that are not ripe or contain bunch rot or other defects. This can be an effective first line of defense to prevent inferior quality fruit from contaminating a lot or tank of wine.

Destemming is the process of separating stems from the grapes. Depending on the winemaking procedure, this process may be undertaken before crushing with the purpose of lowering the development of tannins and vegetal flavors in the resulting wine. Single berry harvesting, like what is done with some German Trockenbeerenauslese, avoids this step altogether with the grapes being individually selected.

Crushing is the process of gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to liberate the contents of the berries. In traditional and smaller-scale wine making, the harvested grapes are sometimes crushed by trampling them barefoot or by the use of inexpensive small scale crushers. These can also destem at the same time. However, in larger wineries, a mechanical crusher/destemmer is used.

The decision about desteming is different for red and white wine making. Generally when making white wine the fruit is only crushed, the stems are then placed in the press with the berries. The presence of stems in the mix facilitates pressing by allowing juice to flow past flattened skins. These accumulate at the edge of the press. For red winemaking, stems of the grapes are usually removed before fermentation since the stems have a relatively high tannin content; in addition to tannin they can also give the wine a vegetal aroma. On occasion, the winemaker may decide to leave them in if the grapes themselves contain less tannin than desired. This is more acceptable if the stems have 'ripened' and started to turn brown.

If increased skin extraction is desired, a winemaker might choose to crush the grapes after destemming. Removal of stems first means no stem tannin can be extracted. In these cases the grapes pass between two rollers which squeeze the grapes enough to separate the skin and pulp, but not so much as to cause excessive shearing or tearing of the skin tissues. In some cases, notably with "delicate" red varietals such as Pinot Noir or Syrah, all or part of the grapes might be left uncrushed (called "whole berry") to encourage the retention of fruity aromas through partial carbonic maceration.

Most red wines derive their color from grape skins (the exception being varieties or hybrids of non-vinifera vines which contain juice pigmented with the dark Malvidin 3,5-diglucoside anthocyanin) and therefore contact between the juice and skins is essential for color extraction. Red wines are produced by destemming and crushing the grapes into a tank and leaving the skins in contact with the juice throughout the fermentation (maceration). It is possible to produce white (colorless) wines from red grapes by the fastidious pressing of uncrushed fruit. This minimizes contact between grape juice and skins (as in the making of Blanc de noirs sparkling wine, which is derived from Pinot noir, a red vinifera grape.)

Most white wines are processed without destemming or crushing and are transferred from picking bins directly to the press. This is to avoid any extraction of tannin from either the skins or grapeseeds, as well as maintaining proper juice flow through a matrix of grape clusters rather than loose berries. In some circumstances winemakers choose to crush white grapes for a short period of skin contact, usually for three to 24 hours. This serves to extract flavor and tannin from the skins (the tannin being extracted to encourage protein precipitation without excessive Bentonite addition) as well as Potassium ions, which participate in bitartrate precipitation (cream of tartar). It also results in an increase in the pH of the juice which may be desirable for overly acidic grapes. This was a practice more common in the 1970s than today, though still practiced by some Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay producers in California.

In the case of rosé wines, the fruit is crushed and the dark skins are left in contact with the juice just long enough to extract the color that the winemaker desires. The must is then pressed, and fermentation continues as if the wine maker was making a white wine.

Yeast is normally already present on the grapes, often visible as a powdery appearance of the grapes. The fermentation can be done with this natural yeast, but since this can give unpredictable results depending on the exact types of yeast that are present, cultured yeast is often added to the must. One of the main problems with the use of wild ferments is the failure for the fermentation to go to completion, that is some sugar remains unfermented. This can make the wine sweet when a dry wine is desired. Frequently wild ferments lead to the production of unpleasant acetic acid (vinegar) production as a by product.

During the primary fermentation, the yeast cells feed on the sugars in the must and multiply, producing carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. The temperature during the fermentation affects both the taste of the end product, as well as the speed of the fermentation. For red wines, the temperature is typically 22 to 25 °C, and for white wines 15 to 18 °C.

For every gram of sugar that is converted, about half a gram of alcohol is produced, so to achieve a 12% alcohol concentration, the must should contain about 24% sugars. The sugar percentage of the must is calculated from the measured density, the must weight, with the help of a saccharometer. If the sugar content of the grapes is too low to obtain the desired alcohol percentage, sugar can be added (chaptalization). In commercial winemaking, chaptalization is subject to local regulations.

During or after the alcoholic fermentation, malolactic fermentation can also take place, during which specific strains of bacteria convert malic acid into the milder lactic acid. This fermentation is often initiated by inoculation with desired bacteria.

"In victory, you deserve Champagne. In defeat, you need it." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Pressing is the act of applying pressure to grapes or pomace in order to separate juice or wine from grapes and grape skins.

Pressing is not always a necessary act in winemaking; if grapes are crushed there is a considerable amount of juice immediately liberated (called free-run juice) that can be used for vinification. Typically this free-run juice is of a higher quality than the press juice. However, most wineries do use presses in order to increase their production (gallons) per ton, as pressed juice can represent between 15%-30% of the total juice volume from the grape.

Presses act by positioning the grape skins or whole grape clusters between a rigid surface and a moveable surface and slowly decrease the volume between the two surfaces. Modern presses are able to follow a pressing program which dictates the duration and pressure at each press cycle, usually ramping from 0 Bar to 2.0 Bar. Sometimes winemakers choose pressures at which they wish to separate the streams of pressed juice, which is called making "press cuts." As the pressure increases on the grape skins so too increase the amount of tannin extracted into the juice, often rendering the pressed juice excessively tannic or harsh. Because of the location of grape juice constituents in the berry (water and acid are found primarily in the mesocarp or pulp, whereas tannins are found primarily in the pericarp, or skin, and seeds), pressed juice or wine tends to be lower in acidity with a higher pH than the free-run juice.

Before the advent of modern winemaking, most presses were basket presses made of wood and operated manually. Basket presses are composed of a cylinder of wooden slats on top of a fixed plate, with a moveable plate that can be forced downward (usually by a central ratcheting threaded screw.) The press operator would load the grapes or pomace into the wooden cylinder, place the top plate in place and begin to lower it until juice began to flow from the wooden slats. As the juice flow decreased to a minimum, the plate was ratcheted down again until a similar flowrate was achieved. This process would continue until the press operator determines that the quality of the pressed juice or wine is below standard, or all liquids have been pressed from the grape skins. Since the early 1990s, modern mechanical basket presses have seen a resurgence amongst higher-end producers seeking to replicate the gentle pressing of the historical basket presses. Because basket presses have relatively compact design, the press cake offers a longer relative pathway through which the juice must travel before leaving the press. It is believed by advocates of basket presses that this relatively long pathway through the grape or pomace cake serves as a filter to solids that would otherwise negatively impact the quality of the press juice.

With red wines, the must is pressed after the primary fermentation, which separates the skins and other solid matter from the liquid. With white wine, the liquid is separated from the must before fermentation . With rose, the skins may be kept in contact for a shorter period to give color to the wine, in that case the must may be pressed as well. After a period in which the wine stands or ages, the wine is separated from the dead yeast and any solids that remained (called its lees), and transferred to a new container where any additional fermentation may take place.

Wine has been a part of human culture for many, many years. Indeed, wine has come a long way and today, it is still one of the most popular beverages in the world.

Today, many people host wine tasting parties to celebrate the wonderful beverage that is wine. Parties like this are quite enjoyable as you will be able to taste different kinds of wine and also experience new flavors. However, what if you don't know how to taste wine? Surely you wouldn't want to be the laughing stock at the party just because you don't know how to taste wine properly. So, here are some basics on how to taste wine.

The first step in tasting wine is by looking at the wine. Never ever fill the glass with wine. The reason for this is that when it is time for you to rim test the wine, you will need to tilt the glass to take a look at its color. Now, you can't tilt a wine glass if it is full of wine, can you?

You need to hold the wine glass by the stem and never by the bowl. Although this may feel awkward at first, you need to remember that the purpose for this is to avoid altering the wine temperature with the warmth of your hands. Another reason is to avoid blurring the color of the wine with your fingerprints.

After observing the wine's color, the next step is swirling the wine. The purpose for this is to release the aroma as well as the flavor. Swirling the wine will also expose the tears or the legs of the wine. The more tears or legs in the wine, the higher the amount of alcohol there is in the wine.

The next step is to smell the wine. When you swirled the wine around, you also exposed the scent of the wine. Now, stick your nose right in to the bowl of the wine and inhale deeply. About two inhalations will do. The smell of the wine will also indicate its age or its origin. The quality of the wine may also be determined by the smell alone.

After that, you are now ready for tasting the wine. Tasting the wine doesn't involve gulping everything inside the wine glass at once. It involves doing small sips on the wine and most important of all, you need to be able to taste it.

After having wine inside your mouth, you need to roll the wine around your tongue. There are three things that you need to remember when you taste the wine. The first is the first impression or what the wine tastes like when it enters your mouth, the second is the taste or the flavor of the wine when you are actually swirling the wine around your mouth and the third is the aftertaste, which is the lingering flavor after swallowing the wine.

These are the things that you need to remember when you taste wine. Remember these tips and you can be sure that you will be able to know what to do when you attend a wine tasting party.

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Walking into a wine shop or perusing a restaurant's wine menu can be an overwhelming event. With many stores and upscale eateries offering more than a thousand wines to choose from, the average consumer needs a guide like Anita LaRaia. As the founder and director of The Wine School of Atlanta, Georgia, Anita has taught thousands of wine classes over the past 26 years and graduated some of the country's top wine connoisseurs. Using her unique blend of wine expertise, practical advice, and easy-to-read conversational explanations, Pick a Perfect Wine In No Time covers everything you need to know about wines and their food partners.
With full coverage of important topics like vintages, vineyards from around the world, wine types, and wine labels, even the most inexperienced wine drinker can impress the wine steward at a fancy, upscale restaurant. Anita includes valuable reference information on wine vintages, exciting food and wine combinations, menus and recipes for hosting wine events, how to start a wine collection on any budget, plus finding the perfect tour of the wine country in California, France, or Italy.

After the harvest, the grapes are crushed and allowed to ferment.

Red wine is made from the must (pulp) of red or black grapes that undergo fermentation together with the grape skins, while white wine is usually made by fermenting juice pressed from white grapes, but can also be made from must extracted from red grapes with minimal contact with the grapes' skins. Rosé wines are made from red grapes where the juice is allowed to stay in contact with the dark skins long enough to pick up a pinkish color, but little of the tannins contained in the skins.

During this primary fermentation, which often takes between one and two weeks, yeast converts most of the sugars in the grape juice into ethanol (alcohol). After the primary fermentation, the liquid is transferred to vessels for the secondary fermentation. Here, the remaining sugars are slowly converted into alcohol and the wine becomes clear. Wine is then allowed to age in oak barrels before bottling, which add extra aromas to the wine, while others are bottled directly.

The time from harvest to drinking can vary from a few months for Beaujolais nouveau wines to over twenty years for top wines. However, only about 10% of all red and 5% of white wine will taste better after five years than it will after just one year. Depending on the quality of grape and the target wine style, some of these steps may be combined or omitted to achieve the particular goals of the winemaker. Many wines of comparable quality are produced using similar but distinctly different approaches to their production; quality is dictated by the attributes of the starting material and not necessarily the steps taken during vinification.

Variations on the above procedure exist. With sparkling wines such as Champagne, an additional fermentation takes place inside the bottle, trapping carbon dioxide and creating the characteristic bubbles. Sweet wines are made by ensuring that some residual sugar remains after fermentation is completed. This can be done by harvesting late (late harvest wine), freezing the grapes to concentrate the sugar (ice wine), or adding a substance to kill the remaining yeast before fermentation is completed; for example, high proof brandy is added when making port wine. In other cases the winemaker may choose to hold back some of the sweet grape juice and add it to the wine after the fermentation is done, a technique known as süssreserve.

The process produces wastewater, pomace, and lees that require collection, treatment, and disposal or beneficial use.

Secondary Fermentation and Bulk Aging
During the secondary fermentation and aging process, which takes three(3) to six(6) months, the fermentation continues very slowly. The wine is kept under an airlock to protect the wine from oxidation. Proteins from the grape are broken down and the remaining yeast cells and other fine particles from the grapes are allowed to settle. Potassium bitartrate will also precipitate, a process which can be enhanced by cold stabilization to prevent the appearance of (harmless) tartrate crystals after bottling. The result of these processes is that the originally cloudy wine becomes clear. The wine can be racked during this process to remove the lees.

The secondary fermentation usually takes place in either large stainless steel vessels with a volume of several cubic meters of wine, or oak barrels, depending on the goals of the winemakers. Unoaked wine is fermented in a barrel made of stainless steel or other material having no influence in the final taste of the wine. Depending on the desired taste, it could be fermented mainly in stainless steel to be briefly put in oak, or have the complete fermentation done in stainless steel. Oak could be added as chips used with a non-wooden barrel instead of a fully wooden barrel. This process is mainly used in cheaper wine.

Amateur winemakers often use glass carboys in the production their wine; these vessels (sometimes called demijohns) have a capacity of 4.5 to 54 liters (1.2-14.3 US gallons). The kind of vessel used depends on the amount of wine that is being made, the grapes being used, and the intentions of the winemaker.

Australian Riesling is truly a wine for all seasons and all seasonings! With aromas of pear, apple, jasmine, lime, honey and spice, and flavors from fresh citrus to ripe tropical fruit, Riesling's versatility makes it the perfect match for any occasion. You can pair it with hearty meat dishes, sausages, turkey and pork, but also with salads, light seafood and spicy Asian fare. Rieslings labeled "Late Harvest" or "Botrytis" will be for dessert.

Many people mistakenly think of Riesling as being only a sweet wine, but the diverse grape produces both dry and sweet styles. Long revered in Australia, Riesling's popularity is now spreading throughout the U.S.

Pick up a Riesling from one of Australia's premium wine regions. Each exhibits characteristics as distinct as its vineyard. From Clare Valley you can expect minerality with notes of lemon; Eden Valley's signature flavor is lime zest and a delicate, textured finish; Great Southern in Western Australia tends toward the floral and spice spectrum; and Tasmania's Rieslings are crisp and tart. Also, keep your eye out for Southeastern Australia on the label. These are blends from different regions that are generally softer and fruity with a crowd-pleasing zing.

Here is a delicious dish that is a great match with Riesling, whether you are preparing a family meal or want something unique for a party. Any night of the week, pour a dry Australian Riesling with take-out shrimp pad Thai, sushi or down-home fried chicken. It will make any meal an occasion.

Pan-Roasted Pork with Riesling and Apple-Pear Relish
Olive oil for cooking
4 pork chops
White wine

Riesling and Fruit Relish
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 small leek, white part only, sliced
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 apple, diced
1 pear, diced
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup Riesling
2 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375° F. Heat ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add oil to coat. Cook pork chops 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned. Add splash of white wine to pan and scrape up any browned bits. Transfer pan to oven and roast 8 to 10 minutes, or until cooked as desired. Remove from oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

For relish: Heat oil in small saucepan over medium heat, add mustard seeds, shallot and leek and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until fruit is tender and liquid is syrupy.

Most Australian Rieslings are quite dry and match beautifully with many different flavors--from chili peppers to ginger, lemongrass to curry and orange zest to cloves. Chicken breasts may be substituted for pork chops; vary cooking time accordingly. Serves four.

- Courtesy Gourmet Finds

Imagine having a fun and rewarding career that gives you the opportunity to turn your love of fine wines into a profitable business. When you become a wine merchant you can choose to open any of the following wine businesses:

• You can open your own wine store and sell bottled wines to customers within a community.
  
• You can open your own wine bar and create a social establishment to attract locals as well as tourists and vacationers.
  
• You can open your own winery or start your own vineyard, to personally oversee how your wine products are made, stored and shipped.

When you open a wine business you will become part of a growing industry as rich as a chilled bottle of Chardonnay. Wine sales in the U.S. have more than doubled since the early 1990s, reaching $26 billion in 2005.

Wine is a drink that never goes out of style, but it is particularly trendy today. Popularized in the Academy Award winning movie Sideways and the bestselling book French Women Don't Get Fat, wine's health benefits have been extensively reported in North American news media.

If opening a wine business sounds like the career of your dreams, the Guide to Become a Wine Merchant is for you. In this e-book you will discover how you can get started and succeed in the wine business.

Guide author Mitchell Warren is a wine connoisseur and journalist who interviewed wine industry professionals to bring you insider tips to help you open your own vineyard, winery, wine bar, or wine shop. Among the wine industry professionals who share expert advice in this guide are:

• Tom MacDonald, owner of Webster's Wine Bar located in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago's oldest wine bar, which serves over 35 wines by the glass and 500 by the bottle with brands from all over the world.
  
  
• Christina Martin, owner of Martin Ulisse Imports located in Corpus Christi, Texas, a distributor specializing in the finest Italian wines imported from smaller, undiscovered wineries to American wine lovers.
  
  
• Joel Peterson, co-owner of Ravenswood Winery of Sonoma, California, a winery which devotes attention to full-flavored varietal wines that rival the quality of Europe's finest.
  
  
• Ben Wallace, owner of Cella Raiders, a retail store selling an eclectic variety of wine online and a buyer of vintage wine collections.

The guide covers topics of vital importance to anyone who wants to open a wine business, including: Advice for All Wine Businesses, Opening a Wine Store, Opening a Wine Bar, and Starting a Winery or Vineyard.

It can cost hundreds of dollars to take courses on starting a business, and chances are they will not include specific information about opening a winery, wine bar, or wine shop. The Guide to Become a Wine Merchant contains some of the best business advice you could get from other sources, and more.

The information in this guide can save you many hours of research, help you avoid some costly mistakes, and give you information you need to open a vineyard or winery, open a wine bar, or open a wine store.

Ordering is fast, easy and safe. You will receive your ebook guide within minutes. Click here to learn more, or to order your copy.

"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance." - Benjamin Franklin

If you're a wine enthusiast, making your own wine is more than likely a dream you'd love to fulfill. The growing popularity of wine has unleashed a wide variety of methods and equipment designed for home wine makers that you can use to make your own private label wine.

Basic instructions and tips for making your own wine are plentiful on the Internet as well as magazines and books. Before you begin the wine making process, be sure to browse the net or visit your local library or bookstore for more information.

Basic wine making equipment can be purchased online or at any home brewing or home winemaking supply shop in your city. You'll also be able to find a list (including prices) of all the supplies you'll need to get your wine making venture off the ground.

Purchasing a basic wine making kit can be much less expensive than buying the equipment individually. You can start out with a kit and then add the extra gadgets as you progress.

Some wine making starter kits include a hydrometer, sample jar and a crown capper or wine corker. Others include a blend of grape concentrate, grape juice and sugar as well as yeast, stabilizer and clarifier. If the kit you choose doesn't contain oak chips and elderberries, you may want to purchase these items separately.

When you've got the equipment and have an idea of what it takes to make a good bottle of wine, the next step is to choose the grapes. Your location will depend on the types of grapes you can grow or purchase.

But whether your goal is to make an inviting bottle of Chardonnay or a full-bodied bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, you should be able to find a variety of the grapes you'll need.

The grapes you choose should be insect-free and clean. Carefully inspect the grapes and discard any that appear to be rotten or discolored. Stems left on the grapes can cause your wine to have a bitter taste, so be sure to remove them.

Wine making methods may seem complicated, but you'll find lots of simple step-by-step instructions to help you enter the world of others who choose to make their own wines.

Your own private label wines make wonderful gifts and produce a sense of self-fulfillment. You may like it so much that you decide to make wine making your life's work -- like thousands of others who started out with one little wine making kit -- just like you.

One of the great joys of wine is being able to select a bottle of wine from your own cellar, perhaps one that you've been storing for some years, draw the cork and enjoy it with friends. You can marvel at the changes brought on by maturity and, as a bonus, you can brag about the price you paid and congratulate yourself on picking up such a bargain!

Out of the many basement ideas that homeowners consider when thinking about renovation, a wine cellar is one of the more unique, fun, and useful projects that can be done.

However, wine is an ever-changing thing and how it is stored will directly affect how quickly and how well it ages!

Storing Wine is Very Simple ...
It requires a constant temperature, humidity, darkness, stillness and a well-ventilated and clean environment.

Insulation
The first essential is to create a storage environment that provides the basics of stable temperature, no light and no vibration.

In general terms 4" (100mm) of polystyrene is the equivalent to 3 ft (1 meter) of ground. So if you're trying to decide between an above ground construction and an underground cavern, you must be prepared to dig deep for the latter.

Your cupboard, indoor space or your outdoor construction must be well shaded, well insulated and with the minimum of air movement in and out.

Temperature
The objective is to provide stored wines with a constant temperature of between 50°F and 59°F (10°C - 15°C).

Seasonal changes in temperature will not harm your wine, although fluctuations greater than one degree a week should be avoided.

Wines subjected to temperatures over 77°F (25°C) are in grave danger of rapid deterioration.

Wines stored in less than ideal conditions will age at speeds quite different to those envisaged by winemakers when they offer suggested storage times. A hygro thermometer will provide you with accurate information as to both the temperature and humidity ranges within your cellar.

A well-constructed above ground cellar or a well dug underground cellar will require the minimum of additional temperature control although your climate or the position of your cellar may necessitate the use of a cooling device that will provide complete temperature stability.

Another alternative is a temperature controlled wine cabinet. Some of these can hold up to 800 bottles but note that some manufacturers' suggested bottle capacity can be misleading and the racks may be smaller than you require. Champagne bottles are larger than Riesling bottles!

Regard assembled wine as your best cooling block. A high density of wine bottles will reduce wine temperature fluctuations.

Consider keeping your long-term wines in a professional storage facility if your cellar cannot conform to the optimum temperature ranges.

Humidity
A dry atmosphere is an enemy of the natural cork seal. A natural cork is compressed and forced into the bottle as a 100% natural seal.

Low humidity combined with a defective cork results in the wine moving out of the bottle (increasing ullage) and air naturally moving into the bottle.

Moderate humidity is important to keep the cork in good resilient condition and prevent it shrinking. Screw capped bottles do not require humidity.

Excessive humidity will not harm the wine but can cause the labels to go moldy. The ideal humidity for your cellar is 70%, however anywhere between 50-80% is acceptable.

Traditional Redwood Magnum Wine Rack - Holds 48 Bottles
This exceptional piece of redwood wine rack furniture makes an incredible addition to your collection. With 3 columns, each 16 rows high, you can store up to 48 bottles in each of these beautiful wood wine racks. Enhance your home wine cellar with a customized look at an affordable price. Easy to assemble, all hardware included. Rack must be secured to wall.

Darkness
Light will prematurely age a bottle of wine. Clear bottles are most susceptible to this problem, but ultraviolet light will penetrate even dark colored glass.

Ultraviolet light will damage wine by causing the degradation of the otherwise stable organic compounds, especially the tannins found in wine. These organic compounds contribute to the aroma, flavor and structure of the wine. Without them your wine would appear flat and thin.

So exposure to ultraviolet light results in unfavorable and irreversible changes in your wine.

Sparkling wines require extra care as they are more sensitive to light than other wines.

Lay it Down!
Store your wine bottles horizontally so the wine is in contact with the cork. This will keep the cork wet. If the cork dries out and shrinks it will let air get to your wine. Store it with the label facing up. This will help in three ways:

You can easily see what the wine is. You don't need to disturb the bottle to see what you've got in your cellar.

The sediment will form on the opposite side to the label and make it easier to see.

The label is less likely to suffer damage. If you're storing wine as an investment, a damaged label will reduce the value.

Follow the tips above and you'll be on your way to creating a cellar where your wine will age to perfection and a cellar that will be the envy of your friends!