How to store your wine correctly, according to an expert

Never suffer from a broken cork again 

Chelsea Ritschel
in New York
Friday 08 December 2017 16:16 GMT
Comments
Previous studies have suggested benefits from healthy properties of red wine but these are counteracted by other risks
Previous studies have suggested benefits from healthy properties of red wine but these are counteracted by other risks

If you’ve ever come home from work looking forward to a glass of wine only to be thwarted by the cork breaking as you’re trying to open the bottle, it is most likely the way you’re storing your wine bottles, and not how the wine was corked.

According to Adrian Smith, The Independent's wine expert, while "you may see wine sitting upright in a wine shop and assume that's the correct way to store it at home, for wines with a cork, that couldn't be further from the truth."

He said, "If you want to keep wine over time, it should always be in contact with the cork, and thus should be placed on its side."

Otherwise, he says, "the cork will be exposed to more oxygen, shrinking it over time and letting more oxygen deep inside the bottle, which will slowly turn the wine to vinegar."

In addition, Joanna Simon, a wine critic, told Cosmopolitan storing your wine bottles upright actually results in brittle cork, prone to crumbling or breaking once you’re ready for a glass, or two.

Even if you do manage to remove the cork successfully from a bottle that has been upright, there is a higher chance bits of cork will be swimming in your wine.

Be wary of wine stored upright 

The correct way to store wine bottles? Horizontally.

Wine racks aren't just for show

It looks like those fancy wine racks you see in restaurants aren’t just for decoration.

And to further ensure you can enjoy your wine cork-free, Simon suggests using a “smooth, rounded” corkscrew, rather than one with a “sharp, bevelled edge.”

So while you may not splurge on your wine, you should pay the extra money for a good corkscrew.

But if you’re like us and don’t have room in your apartment for a fancy wine rack, you should stick to screw cap wines, which do not need to be stored horizontally.

Also, not keeping a bottle of wine around long enough for storage to be necessary works too...

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in