Hang on a minute... or a year!

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a gold-fish as they saw the need for me to understand how discipline and accountability works. Plus, they didn't want me to have a dog as they knew a gold-fish would be far less damaging to my father's rose gardens. In pure excitement, I scattered the bright glass pebbles at the base of the head-sized fish bowl, added some water and a little drop of some fish-friendly chemical and placed the bowl on top of the fridge in the kitchen. I looked after the fish and fed him everyday like I was told. Hey, this isn't so hard! One day as I arrived home on the bus from primary school, my mother greeted me at the back gate with a pensive and sympathising look on her face. "Percy (the said fish) has passed away darling". I was horrified as I went about taking down the empty fish bowl from above the fridge, only to notice how staggeringly hot it was all the way up there. The warm air from behind the fridge, blowing straight up to the area surrounding the fish bowl. No wonder he didn't survive, the water was like bath water!

If I had have known how important it was to store the fish bowl in the correct place, one must wonder how long Percy could have lasted. The same can be said for storing our favourite bottles of wine. There are a few tips that I will share to help your wines age gracefully so one day you can enjoy them, as they should be:

1. Stable temperature: This is the single most important factor in storing wine correctly. Large temperature variations can expand and contract the liquid within the bottle, which weakens the seal on the cork. The result is, oxygen can get into the wine causing the wine to age prematurely and ultimately making it flat and lifeless
2. Low temperature: The higher the temperature, the faster the ageing process will occur, and, you guessed it, the lower the temperature the slower the ageing process. The closer you can get your constant temperature to 15 degrees celsius, the more love you will get from your wine.
3. Adequate humidity: The ideal level of humidity in your storage area should be around 75%. This prevents the cork from drying out and shrinking (then allowing oxygen to enter the wine). By laying your bottles slightly further than horizontal so the liquid is in constant contact with the cork, also helps this process.
4. Darkness: The very best cellars are cold, stable, moist and very dark. Exposure to too much light can cause the wine to deteriorate.
5. Stability and minimisation of movement: during the ageing process, sediment forms along the base of the near-horizontal bottle and by settling, it enhances the ageing process.
6. Low ventilation: Ventilation can be damaging as it can adversely affect the humidity and temperature of the cellar.

So please dont age your wines in your kitchen or near the back window. Find a nice place at the bottom of a cupboard, under the stairs, under the house or even the garage. And for the love of god, please dont store them on top of your fridge - I still think of Percy from time to time when I sip on a terrible red!