Aging or maturation?
By itself wine doesn’t contain preservatives.
It can keep its taste for years, even decades without deterioration.
Sometimes long-term storage can even improve the quality of the wine!
Most wines produced for daily consumption retain their characteristics but do not improve them. So the quality of the wine certainly affects its “longevity”.
The common denominator that unites the various types of wine is, that the lower the storage temperature, the slower its aging will be.
But what happens in practice?
Does the storage temperature really affect the taste of wine?
The Norwegian Food Research Institute tried to find out how wine deterioration process works with an experiment. Several identical bottles of a Cabernet Sauvignon were taken for examination. They have been stored at four different temperatures (5° C, 10° C, 23° C and 31° C) and tasted regularly by experts. After 6 weeks there was no difference in taste between the bottles, but after 6 months the signs of aging and the loss of fruity aroma in the wine stored at 31° C, were evident. After 12 months these signs also appeared in the wine stored at 23° C, a normal ambient temperature.
From this experiment we can deduce, keeping a bottle of wine for several days in the kitchen shelf is fine.
But if you want to maintain the quality of the wines for a longer time, then store them constantly at a temperature of 10°-14° C. An excellent solution is certainly an air-conditioned cellar.
But if we all agree on keeping the wine storage temperature stable, another factor that should not be underestimated is light. In fact, a wine quickly loses its fruity aroma when exposed to light, especially when bottled in white glass. The sun, but also the artificial light trigger the oxidation processes that ruin the noble drop.
That’s why you should prefer a wine cellar from Datron for your wine storage: it’s like a fortress, a true ally for storing your wines.
Enjoy the best moments in the company of good food and good wine.
Find out more about the best wine coolers.
