Not every bottle of wine is opened immediately – on the contrary: some wine bottles sit around at home for months or years. But is that actually good for the wine? How do you store wine bottles properly at home?

Here you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions.

A wine cellar or a wine cooler would be ideal. But not everyone has one at home, so you can also use your own living room. We recommend a dark place in the closet or under the bed in the bedroom. The bedroom is usually the coolest place in the home. The kitchen is not ideal for storing wine. Cooking and baking cause the temperatures to fluctuate too much.

Remember:

Store your wine in a cool, dark place.

The most important rule when storing wine is to avoid heat and high temperatures. This is especially true in summer, when the house heats up during the day due to the sun. If the temperature is constantly above 20 degrees, the wine loses its aromas and matures too quickly. It shouldn't be too cold either: the freezer is not an ideal place for wine. A temperature between 10 and 12 degrees is best. If there is no alternative, a wine can also be kept in the fridge for several months. The only important thing is that the temperatures don't fluctuate too much.

Remember:

Store your wine at a temperature between 10 and 12 degrees.

Most wines today are sold ready to drink. This means that a wine does not necessarily get better when it is stored. In fact, this only applies to a tenth of the wines sold. It is difficult to tell from the outside which wines are in this category. The age of the vine depends on this, as does the number of tannins. Most wines should only be stored at home for up to two years. Premium wines can also be stored for up to ten years. In general, it can be said that the higher the alcohol, sweetness, acidity and tannin content (in red wines), the longer the wine will keep.

Remember:

Do not store your wine at home for longer than two years. (Premium wines are excluded)

If the wine has a cork and is to be kept for a long time, it is recommended to store it lying down, horizontally. This prevents the cork from drying out and reduces the risk of oxygen penetrating the bottle over time. This applies in particular to natural corks. If you want to do it right, you can also seal the cork with a special sealing wax beforehand. However, it is usually not necessary to store wine lying down. Even after a few months, the corks do not dry out if they are properly sealed. For wines with other closures, it does not matter anyway - they can also be stored upright without any problems.

Remember:

You can also store your wine standing up without any problem. (Except for wines with cork closures that are intended to be stored for several years)

Longer maturation of the wine through storage results in a wine appearing more harmonious and softer. This is due to the formation of esters. The acid and alcohol content remains almost the same, even if the esterification gives the impression that there is less acid and alcohol in it. Instead, a wine loses fruit aromas. However, if stored correctly, this process takes quite a long time.

Remember:

The alcohol content usually does not change that much.

When you open a wine, it encounters its greatest enemy: oxygen. An oxidation process begins that makes the wine undrinkable. This is why an opened wine does not actually last long. As a rule, you can assume that an open bottle of white wine should be drunk within two to three days. The less wine there is in the bottle, the shorter its shelf life. Open red wines, on the other hand, last a little longer: the average here is four to six days.

Remember:

Open bottles of white wine have a shelf life of two to three days.

Open bottles of red wine have a shelf life of four to six days.