How to set up your own wine cellar at home?

Whether it is for daily consumption or for special occasions, wine lovers usually have bottles put away. They can be small or large collections, but regardless of their size, the important thing is to have the right conditions to prevent these wines from deteriorating.

If you plan to take your wine cellar seriously, here we explain the do's and don'ts.

Where to locate it?

Choose a cool, dark, humid place, hopefully free of invasive aromas. This could be a basement, but since most people don't have one at home there are also other places that work: under the stairs, a pantry, a bathroom that doesn't get the sun, a closet with towels or tablecloths, a disused fireplace or an unoccupied room. As long as it does not have heating or underfloor heating. For the same reason, also forget about attics. It is important that these places are kept isolated, without vibration and without light (to avoid accelerated aging and oxidation of the wines, respectively). If you have wines stored in your kitchen, get them out of there! Heat is the worst enemy of wine: it makes them mature before their time.

How to place the bottles?

In a horizontal position: this way the liquid is in contact with the cork and it does not dry out, allowing more air to enter than the wine needs to continue its evolution in the bottle.

In a dark place: contact with light oxidizes the wine.

Away from strong odors.

The temperature

The ideal is to keep the wines at 10 degrees C, but any temperature between 7 and 18 degrees C works well. The higher the temperature, the faster the wine will age and the lower the temperature, the longer it will take.

Another good option is the air-conditioned cellars. There you can keep up to 300 bottles, but you need a large budget to access them.

Humidity, a factor that should not be overlooked

The ideal is that the environment has between 60% and 70% humidity. This is important so that the cork does not dry out and is not attacked by fungi that could later be transferred to the wine. To avoid this, the bottles should be positioned at an angle. This helps the wine to always be in contact with the cork and not to dry out. But it also helps the sediments of the wine to go to the bottom of the bottle.

If you choose a place in your house that is enclosed, make sure you air it out from time to time. Remember that wine is a liquid that is alive, it can breathe through the cork and you don't want unpleasant smells to get through to it.

What to do with the wine once it has been opened?

If the bottle you are going to uncork has been stored and laid down for many years, it is best to leave it standing for 24 hours before drinking it. That way the sediments will go to the bottom. In addition, it is ideal to decant it so that it releases all the aromas that it developed over time.

When they are young and economical wines, the ideal time to drink them is no longer than two years, because what these wines deliver is the pleasure of their young fresh fruit. But if you invest a little more, you can access wines that you can keep for much longer.