Store wine bottles on the side or upright?
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,962
    Well? How important is it to store bottles on their side? Is it important to keep the cork moist or whatever?
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679 Accepted Answer
    it depends on your storage environment. if your humidity is generally above 50% then upright is just fine. many basements fit the bill fine, but upstairs can get too dry, especially in the summer. you all know how many bottles i have that i have made, i have double that in actual purchased wine. the vast majority sits upright in my basement, with 5% in a wineholder in the dining room on their sides.

    if the cork dries out, it will shrink and allow the wine to oxidize much quicker, plus breakage when you remove it, and that's just tacky!
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,962 Accepted Answer
    Maybe I need to see what the relative humidity is in my basement. It really depends on the weather. Lots of rain = wet wet wet basement and dehumidifier running nonstop. No rain = dehumidifier catches up and over dries I'm sure.
    DIY dehumidifier controller build anyone? Maybe.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    chandlerbang said:


    DIY dehumidifier controller build anyone? Maybe.


    1: poke a bunch of holes in bucket
    2: fill bucket with rock salt
    3:place bucket over another bucket or something to drain into.
    4: explain to your wife how time consuming that was and how much money it saved the family, reap rewards.
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    All my wine is stored on its side. With humidity rarely over 10% here everything dries out.
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    Sucks but it is how I have to do it here in az.
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,962
    I think i should figure out how to get them stored on the side just to make sure. Most of the time the humidity here is sufficient, but I don't want to chance it.

    I read somewhere that bottles should not be stored on their side immediately after bottling. You should wait a week or so. What's the deal with that, eh?
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    when the cork goes through the corker, it gets squished down in the neck of the bottle. allowing it to sit upright for a week lets the cork re-expand and fill in all the tiny knooks and crannies that may exist along the bottle edge of the cork. if you don't let this happen and instead put the wine on its side immediately, wine may seep far into the cork over time and get really funky.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,777
    issue resolved, now how about waxing bottles? is there any benefit?
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    no benefit other than looking cool.
    for big complex red wines, its actually bad. if you ever look at the foil top of a bottle of red wine, there are 4 tiny holes in the foil. that's for allowing air to flow. red wine gets better as it ages because of a miniscule of amoutn of air movement through the cork. waxing the top would completely stop this. while it won't make the bottle bad by any means, it does halt the aging process. one thing i do sometimes, is when i think the wine is at its peak, put some wax on the top and halt the process. generally, i just drink it all though and don't bother with this.

    don't get me wrong, i like waxing bottles as it just makes it look really cool. i have a bag of purple wax chips to use now. i want to get some blue ones for my blueberry melomel too.
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