Do you know how wine bottles are stored? Some say that upright and others prefer horizontal. Who will be right? The complex thing in this situation is that the answer is not so simple. This is one of the most frequent questions among wine consumers.
In general, the wine bottles are stored in a wine rack, wine cellar, shelf, cellar or cellar. So, the answer is complex. However, we will find an answer below.
The first recommendation is that once a bottle is acquired, it should not be opened immediately, if you want to enjoy the wine it is recommended that the bottles remain upright for a few days to ensure that any sediment that comes in the bottle remains in the background for the wine to stabilize. In no case should they move violently at the time of both storing them and taking them out for consumption.
If the idea is to save it more time for a special occasion, the experts (sommeliers, oenologists, winemakers) unanimously state that the bottles should be placed separately from each other, in order to manipulate one without moving the others, and in a horizontal position to maintain the liquid in contact with the cork, but with a certain inclination that keeps the grounds at the bottom of the bottle.
The reason behind this custom is to prevent the cork from drying out, lose moisture, and therefore reduce its size and allow air to enter and spoil the wine by vinegar.
How to make them with sparkling wines and wines with screw cap
The only exceptions to this rule would be sparkling wines and all those wines closed with screw caps that, obviously, do not have the disadvantages of cork by not allowing air to enter. Therefore, wines with inert closures (threads, synthetics, glass, …) can be stored either vertically or horizontally.
In the case of Cava, Champagne and any quality sparkling wine with a cork cap, the bottles should always be kept in an upright position since the contact of the wine with the cork, in the particular case of these wines, could spoil its quality.
It is better to leave the bottles upright
From a scientific point of view, the practice of storing wine horizontally is wrong. There is not much information about it, however a rigorous study by the University of Adelaide, directed by G. Skouroumounis for the Australian Wine Research Institute, published in 2005, states that the upright bottle conserves wine better.
The study entitled “The impact of the type of closure and storage conditions on the composition, color and flavor properties of a Riesling and a Chardonnay wine during five years of storage” states that the humidity level inside the bottle is almost 100% which will never dry the cork, so, according to this study, the fact of storing wine bottles in a horizontal position is a myth based on the false belief that cork dries upright.
According to this study, keeping the bottles horizontally will also spoil the wine beforehand, since the corks must be moist, not wet, to maintain their flexibility and durability. Apparently, the corks wet for long periods of time reduce their size, accelerating the weakening of the cellular structure of the cork, creating leaks and spoiling the wine.
Be that as it may, the wine industry continues, once again, surrounded by myths and doubts.
And you what do you think? Prefer the tradition and continue with the custom of horizontal bottles, or prefer to accept the advances of recent studies and change towards new trends.
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