Keeping Your Wine Longer
There is nothing quite as perfect as the perfect bottle of wine. Unfortunately, even the most perfect wine is not meant to last forever. That does not mean, however, that you cannot take measures to preserve your favorite bottle of wine. If you want to know how to store your wine properly and make it last longer once the bottle has been opened, there are some tips you cannot live without.
Fortunately, storing wine isn’t very difficult once you know the optimal conditions for wine storage. For the most part, you will want to keep your stored wines at a temperature of approximately 55 degrees. Also, make sure that the area that you store your wine in has plenty of humidity – ideally between 65 to 75 percent. This will prevent the corks from shrinking, which will prevent oxidation of the wine. In addition, you will want to store the wine in a place that is dark and where it will not be exposed to a lot of movement. Movement of the wine will agitate it and will break the delicate balance of bacteria, sugar and air in the wine.
Now, even if you store your wine perfectly, once that wine is open it can be hard to keep it fresh. Each day that the wine is exposed to oxygen, the wine begins to change flavor and, eventually, will go bad. Some wines only last two to three days after opening. However, this can be prevented to some extent by using a stopper and pumping system that you can find at most wine shops. These work by pumping the air out of the wine and creating an air-tight seal, preventing oxygen from getting in. By using this method, you may be able to keep a bottle of wine for months after you have opened it, enjoying that perfect bottle until you have finished the very last drop.
