Temporary wine storage

I've recently been given several bottles of red wine that are all either very expensive or very old. I have no intentions of drinking any of these too soon, so I need to store them. Problem is I currantly live in an apartment and it stays between 66 and 70 degrees year round. I have no room for a wine fridge. What should I do, keep them in the kitchen fridge or on the counter? In a cabinet?

Are they really expensive bottles of wine that have been stored properly for their entire life and need a long shelf life to mature? If so, look into renting out a small lot of space in a commercial wine storage facility - there's usually at least one in every major metro area. You might also consider getting a special wine refrigerator for your home that you can set a specific temperature for (with other environment controls too).

If they're just bottles of regular table wine that are not meant to be stored for long periods of time, just keep them somewhere cool and out of direct light in your apartment. Do not store them in your regular fridge though.

Better to store them in your fridge than in a warm apartment, though long-term in the fridge is supposedly bad due to the vibration of the fridge motor.

The commercial storage suggestion is a good one. They usually have various options for storage - 2 cases; 5 cases; 10 cases; 20 cases; etc. Another option is to locate a friend who has a wine cellar in his house -- many wine geeks would love having your special/old bottles around to admire and covet, especially as it makes it more likely that you'll share those bottles with the friend upon opening.

If the wines are really old, then allowing them to age much longer probably isn't worthwhile as they likely won't improve and may be on the decline. It's the holidays -- drink up!

Some good advice. Do you know for a fact that the very old ones are varietals w/ lots of tannins that age well? Just because it's red doesn't necessarily mean it it will improve with age forever. Some wines reach their peak within a few years of bottling. It's possible to research the 'drinkability' of various vintages. If you've got a '60 first growth Bordeaux, you may find that the wine has peaked, and is in decline. Better drink up. Another point made was the old wine's provenance - has it been properly stored before you came into possession of it? If not, all your efforts, including buying a multithousand dollar temperature controlled storage, unit will be for naught. Find a worthy occassion and pop that cork. Speaking of which, for your really old wines you may want to use one of those openers that have the two prongs/blades that slide down on the side of the cork rather than the usual corkscrew - it could save you some broken/powdered cork headaches.

For your new expensive bottles, keep them out of direct light and in a place w/ a steady temperature. The cooler the better, but more important to avoid temp fluctuations. If you've got a closet away from heat sources that stays 66 you should be OK, but 10 degrees cooler would be ideal. The commercial storage option makes sense if you've got a case(s) to store.

Does your apartment have a cooperative wine cellar?

It's almost December. Put them under a piece of furniture that's next to a drafty window and away from a heat register. Heh. It'll be dark and cool. I'm only 80% kidding.

Originally Posted by Roland Loden of Germany

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Does your apartment have a cooperative wine cellar?

No, but that would be cool.

There is no mini-fridge suitable for long term storage of wine for aging. Proper humidity is also a key ingredient in keeping wine happy. The fridge is not a good place to store wine on a long term basis either. As suggested, the best solutions are either drinking it or going commercial storage.

They have little baby 6-bottle wine captains at Home Depot for ~$100.00 or so. I half wished I was in college so I'd have an excuse to buy one. Don't know about quality.

~ Huntsman

Originally Posted by Huntsman

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They have little baby 6-bottle wine captains at Home Depot for ~$100.00 or so. I half wished I was in college so I'd have an excuse to buy one. Don't know about quality.

~ Huntsman

We bought a 12 bottle Avanti last year at, of all places, Target. It was $90. Just fine for holding in the kitchen, on the short term for drinking, but nothing gets stored there more than a month.

Eventually when I decide to buy a house again I'm definately going to build a wine room into my cellar. It's been a goal of mine since I can remember. The funny thing is my girlfriend, (soon to be wife) although greek, doesn't even like wine so it will just be for my interest.

Her family will appreciate the joy I will find in it though.

In the early 70's my dad bought a mixed case of 1960's Chateau Mouton Rothschild. He died suddenly and it was put in our un-insulated garage, in a corner, lying on a cement floor, surrounded by some odd furniture and "lost". The temperatures vary from freezing (rare) to 100+ here in CA. We when we went to sell the house in the early 90's I "found" the wine. A few bottles showed some leakage. Over time we drank them all and only one was bad.

I don't recommend you store your wine this way, but I think this example shows that the gradual increases/decreases in temperature and absence of sunlight were probably what keep the wine in good condition. And, yes, the '61 was amazing!

I'd take them to a good wine shop and ask for advice. Even if they are worthy wines it's quite possible they've not been stored properly and don't deserve as special treatment (granted, not that a person could tell by looking, but you can tell by drinking )

-spence

Originally Posted by pocketsquareguy

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In the early 70's my dad bought a mixed case of 1960's Chateau Mouton Rothschild. He died suddenly and it was put in our un-insulated garage, in a corner, lying on a cement floor, surrounded by some odd furniture and "lost". The temperatures vary from freezing (rare) to 100+ here in CA. We when we went to sell the house in the early 90's I "found" the wine. A few bottles showed some leakage. Over time we drank them all and only one was bad.

I don't recommend you store your wine this way, but I think this example shows that the gradual increases/decreases in temperature and absence of sunlight were probably what keep the wine in good condition. And, yes, the '61 was amazing!

That's an incredible story. Goes against anything I have ever personally experienced, read, or heard about, but incredible none the less.