Wine likes to age away from light, and in complete
stillness.
Wine storage is all about creating the optimum storage
conditions for a fine wine. Light ages wine prematurely. It is the
reason coloured glass has been used to bottle fine wines for
centuries. However, ultraviolet light can penetrate even the
darkest of glass, causing degradation of the otherwise stable
organic compounds, especially the tannins, found in wine. These
organic compounds contribute to the aroma, flavour and structure of
the wine - without them your wine would be flat and thin. Exposure
to ultraviolet light results in unfavourable and irreversible
changes in your wine, which is why the most effective wine storage
is often to be found underground in cellars.
Along with light, there is something else that needs to be
eliminated in storage to ensure the perfect maturation of your fine
wine. Vibration.
Stillness allows a fine wine to mature as it was intended and
lets its distinct flavours blossom and come alive. Vibration
agitates the bottle, disturbing the sediments in the wine. This,
once again, speeds up its chemical reactions and breaks down the
molecular structure of its compounds, thus ageing the wine too
quickly. So, ideally, once a wine is laid down in a dark, still
storage environment, it should not be disturbed until it is ready
to be opened or sold.
This, however, is easier said than done. Vibrations are
unavoidable in most above-the-ground storage environments, where
cases tend to be stacked high to preserve precious floor space. To
lift wine to a high storage area requires heavy forklifts, causing
much vibration. Additionally, vibration can be created on the
surface due to the proximity of heavy delivery vehicles.
Every time your fine wine is disturbed, it is changed for the
worse. Every time light cuts through its glass, its quality is
compromised. That is how fragile your wine is. And that is why it
is imperative to understand that a fine wine can only be as good as
its storage environment.