07 Apr Spring Cleaning Ideas for Your Wine Cellar

Spring is finally here, a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. Depending on where you reside, spring also represents a time of year where the weather changes, sometimes dramatically from the cold of the winter. For wine collectors, spring is also a good time to consider sprucing up your wine cellar by ensuring that it is properly maintained and organized. Here are some suggestions to keep your wine cellar in top working condition.

 

Keep a Wine Inventory Journal

Hopefully you’ve been keeping a detailed record of your wine collection. If you are a new collector, this is a practice you should certainly begin immediately, as the information within these notes will help you to effectively track and categorize your wine over time.

You can easily separate and organize your bottles according to:

• Grape
• Vintage
• Region
• Consumption Period

Of course, these are just some possible suggestions, however, you should create your list according to your own personal preferences or organization style.

Maintain Consistent Temperature and Humidity Levels

The arrival of spring is usually accompanied by a fluctuation in the temperature and humidity levels outdoors. It’s important to make sure that the temperature and humidity levels in your wine cellar don’t fluctuate since this could negatively impact the quality of your stored wine. The ideal temperature for storing most wines is between 10–15 degrees Celsius (50–59 degrees Fahrenheit), with an ideal humidity level between 65–75%. Make sure your wine cellar cooling system is functioning properly so that these levels remain consistent over time.

Inspect and Organize Your Bottles

Spring is a good time to review your collection and to move your older wines to the front of your wine racks and push your newer wines to the back. Doing so will help to minimize your chances of missing out on the ideal consumption period for a particular bottle of wine that may get lost in the racking amongst the rest of your collection.

Keep an Eye on Your Corks

If you happen to notice any irregularities with any of your wine bottle corks, it may indicate that the wine in that bottle has been compromised. This can occur for a variety of reasons, but you should either consider returning the bottle to where you bought it (if it was a recent purchase) or perhaps opening and consuming the wine if it has not been negatively affected. Usually, if oxygen has infiltrated the wine, the wine becomes oxidized, which speeds up the aging process and causes the wine to become “corked”. Ensuring that your wine is properly stored in consistent temperatures and humidity levels will minimize the chances of any such spoiling thereby allowing you to enjoy each and every bottle in your collection to its fullest.

Get Help from the Experts

A wine cellar is a significant investment, so properly maintaining your wine cellar should be a priority. At Papro Wine Cellars and Consulting, we have developed a Wine Cellar Service and Maintenance Program to better assist all of our clients with regularly managing and maintaining their wine cellars. Contact us now and let us answer any questions you may have concerning the maintenance of your collection.