Wine Storage

There are few things worse for a wine lover than finally chancing upon the right special occasion to open that dusty bottle only to find its contents have withered and dulled.

Wine storage is by no means an exact science, but you can certainly increase your chances of side-stepping future disappointment.

Quick Links Wine storage in the UK | Wine storage in the USA

Paris wine cellars at Issy Les Moulineaux. Credit: Thomas Samson / AFP / Getty

Steven Spurrier’s video guide to storing wine offers some helpful tips for those seeking to store wine at home, even if you don’t have the space for an underground cellar.

In general, it is important to:

Keep your wine away from bright light
Minimise temperature changes
Lie your wine on its side

There is also a wealth of private wine storage options offered by both wine merchants and bespoke providers.

If you are serious about selling your wine in the future, either at a wine auction or on the secondary market, private storage is often seen as a strong indication of quality; because temperature and humidity conditions should be expertly controlled to maintain the wines as they mature.

In France, growing numbers of space deprived Parisians have started laying down their wines at vast, communal cellars to the south of Paris – as recently discussed by Jane Anson in Anson on Thursday: A wine cellar for Paris and also here in French drop tradition for private wine storage.