The great debate continues – how to properly store wine. This time however, there’s a twist at the top, as The Toronto Star’s Wine Critic Gord Stimmell uncovers in his post Lying down or standing up? How to store screw cap wines.
As craft winemakers, we recommend storing wine with cork stoppers, on their side. This is to keep the cork moist. When wine is stored upright, the cork eventually dries out, shrinks and let’s air into the bottle which can spoil the wine.
The truth is though, as Stimmell so aptly points out, “Even laid down, the cork does very slowly ‘breathe,’ changing the wine and mellowing the tannins inside the bottle.” Screw caps, on the other hand, don’t let air in the bottle and theoretically keep the wine far fresher and tasting like when it was first bottled by the winemaker.
What’s the conclusion? On their side or upright? The science and the protocol of storing screw cap bottles of wine hasn’t been established and the industry is figuring it out as they go along.
How does Stimmell store his wine? Well you’ll have to read the entire article to find out. But we think he’s got the right idea and it sure does save on space.
The Wine Butler would like to remind all it’s customers, to always drink responsibly.