How to Store, Serve & Decanter Wine

Storing Wine

When it comes to storing and serving wine, there are a few things you need to think about the keep wines at their best.

Temperature: Temperature is important both when it comes to storing and serving wine. All wine can be stored at the same temperature range, typically around 10-15°c, however the most important thing when it comes to storage is that the temperature is constant and doesn’t keep fluctuating.

Humidity: To prevent corks from drying out, which can lead to oxygen entering the bottle and ruining the wine, humidity needs to be relatively high at around 60%.

Light & Smell: Avoiding strong light and strong smells are also important factors that often are overlooked when storing wine. Strong light can cause something called light-strike in wine which causes smells similar to dirty drains. Strong smells can get absorbed by the wine through the porous cork and ruin the wine.

The best places to store wines are course cellars or a wine fridge however, if you don’t have access to these, we recommend the back of a wardrobe in a room that stays at an even temperature, or an underground garage which also usually maintains an even temperature. Whatever you do, avoid the kitchen! Kitchens are filled with strong smells and varying temperatures – not the best place for wines!

Now, what about serving temperatures? Well, that’s a different story.

Different wine styles have different structure, and for the wine to be presented at its best, we want to highlight different structural components.

Sparkling Wines: When serving sparkling wines, we want to highlight the acid line and slow down the release of carbon dioxide to prevent it from getting flat. Hence, they should be served at 6-8°c, however take care not to chill them below that since over chilling will mute the flavours.

Light Bodied White Wines: These should be served at a similar temperature, 7-10°c and acidity and freshness are the key features that we want to enhance. These wines are often made from quite aromatic varieties, like Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, so we can “afford” to lose a little bit of aromatics from the low temperatures.

Richer White Wines: As the white wines becomes a little richer (think oak, fuller body like many Aussie Chardonnays and White Rhone Valley varieties) the service temperature can come a up a touch to around 10-13°c. This will allow some of those richer, more savoury flavours to come through and the texture of the wine to be felt.

Rose Wines: Rosé wines would generally fall under the Richer White Wines category, although since there are such a broad variety of rosé wine, you could think of the very light styles as a bit closer to a lighter white wine and serve it a little bit colder.

Red Wines: You often hear that red wines should be served at room temperature. Although it’s true to an extent, we’re not talking Australian room temperatures here. Lighter bodied reds, like Beaujolais and Pinot Noir, can comfortably be served around 13°c, so lightly chilled. Whilst fuller bodied reds, like Aussie Shiraz and Bordeaux blends can be a little warmer at around 15-18°c. When wine becomes too warm, it brings out the heat of the alcohol and the wine quickly loses its freshness and elegance. So, if you’re drinking a red wine and you feel it is a bit flabby and the alcohol is a bit overpowering, cool it down a touch and watch the wine transform.

What about decantering?

Should we always decant or is it a waste of time?

You would typically choose to decant wine for two reasons.

1.      To separate wine from solids that have formed during bottle aging.

2.      To expose the wine to oxygen which releases certain compounds within the wine.

Both influence our perception of flavour, texture, and aroma. A young, full-bodied red can benefit from decanting, and comfortably be left for a few hours before service as it can help soften the tannins and allow certain flavours and aromas in the wine to become more expressive. When it comes to older wines though, we need to be more careful. They should be decanted gently and with a lot of care just before service as the aromatics can fade quickly once the wine is in contact with oxygen, meaning that it would no longer be at its best. Decanting wine at home is up to the individual however we think it’s worth the trouble to allow for a more flavoursome wine.

If you want to learn more about wine types and wine tips, keep an eye on our What’s On page and join one of our Masterclasses or Events. We run these all year round and cover most varieties and topics.