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Wine coolers and wine cellars are the ultimate ways for you to store your wine collection, regardless of whether it’s 5 bottles or 500 bottles.
However, there are certain things you need to consider when storing your wine in the cold weather - mainly preventing your wine from freezing. Once your wine freezes, it will most likely lose its natural flavours and aromas.
Thankfully, there are certain things that you can do to ensure your wine is stored well throughout the winter season. Keep reading for our storage tips for storing your wine in the winter months.
Wine Coolers
Wine coolers are a great way to store your wine, not only taking into account temperature, but also UV light, humidity, and sometimes even vibrations.
Your wine collection needs a little humidity in order for the corks to remain in place. Too little humidity can cause the cork to dry out, shrink, and slip out of place, exposing your wine to oxygen.
However, too much humidity can cause condensation to appear around the bottles, which can destroy the label and promote mould growth.
Most quality wine coolers will regulate the humidity levels between 50% and 70%, which is perfect for long-term wine storage.
Wine coolers also protect your wine from sunlight - or more specifically, the UV rays found in sunlight. Even wine coolers with glass doors will protect your wine, as they’ll have been UV treated.
In the long term, wine is best stored within the temperature range of 11°C to 15°C - but in the winter, it may be more difficult to achieve the perfect temperature if the ambient temperature is low.
Keep reading for some great tips to ensure your wine collection is stored well even in cold temperatures.
Monitor The Ambient Temperature
If the temperature gets too low around your wine cooler, then your wine cooler needs a heating system to ensure that the internal temperature doesn’t stop and your wine collection doesn’t get too cold.
When it’s cold outside, we usually turn the heating on full blast to warm ourselves up. If you place your wine cooler near a radiator, then your wine collection may be too warm and your wine cooler will overwork itself to cool the internal temperature.
Choose A Wine Cooler With A Winter System
If you store your wine cooler in the garage, an outhouse, or outside, then your wine may be at risk of freezing.
Once your wine freezes, the damage is irreversible and the natural flavours may weaken, leaving your wine collection tasting bland. This is certainly something you want to avoid if you’re a wine lover, an investor, or a wine collector.
Many wine coolers feature a winter system or a garage system that insulates the wine cooler and protects your wine from temperature fluctuations. This means that you can place your wine cooler outside or in poorly insulated areas without worrying about the internal temperature dropping and your wine collection freezing.
If you don’t have a winter system, then we recommend that you try insulating your storage space, for example, for your garage. This can protect your wine cooler and the contents of your wine cooler during the colder months - especially when it’s sub-zero temperatures outside.
An insulated garage puts much less pressure on your wine fridge than a non-insulated garage, as it can help maintain a steady temperature without any fluctuations. Consistency is key when it comes to wine storage - you want a consistent temperature and consistent humidity levels in order for the best results.
Place It Carefully
In the cold weather, chances are, your heating and radiators will be on around your home. If this is the case, be careful when placing your wine cooler.
You shouldn’t place your wine cooler around appliances that generate heat, such as your washing machine, tumble drier, or dishwasher. You should also avoid placing wine coolers next to radiators - as this could cause your wine cooler to work harder to cool your wine collection and rack up the cost of your electric bill.
If there is more pressure on your wine cooler, it may appear louder than usual and have extra vibrations. To avoid this, ensure that the ambient temperature doesn’t fluctuate too much.
Wine Cellars
Wine cellars are a great choice if you have a large and varied collection. However, wine cellars can be rather expensive, not only to build but to maintain. In fact, you’re looking at spending well over £10,000 when creating your perfect wine cellar.
However, wine cellars are the best way you can store your wine, as they maintain the right temperature, humidity, and of course, protect your wine from sunlight.
Wine cellars are a better choice than wine coolers when it comes to storing large quantities of wine, as you can typically store hundreds and hundreds of bottles.
Wine cellars are designed for long term storage, so the wine you store in your wine cellar should be able to age. Many wines produced today are designed for consumption ASAP, so ensure that your wine can last the journey before leaving it in your wine cellar for years.
Opt For A Temperature Monitoring System
If you’re worried that your wine cellar might get too cold in the winter, then why not purchase a temperature monitoring system?
You can find systems that will sound an audible alarm if the temperature drops below a certain figure, or that will send a text or notification to your phone if the temperature drops below 5°C.
This is especially useful if you’re storing wine in the long term and you don’t visit your wine cellar much - as some people have visited their wine cellars at the end of January and found that their entire wine collection has frozen.
Getting an alarm that alerts you if the cellar temperature gets too cold will help you rectify the problem. If the temperature does get too cold, simply turn the heating up by a couple of degrees to counteract the cold.
Store Your White Wine In The Cooler Areas
If there’s a section of your wine cellar that appears to be cooler than others, or an area with more ventilation than the rest of the cellar, then utilise that spot and place your white wine there.
Sparkling wines and white wines are usually stored at lower temperatures than red wine, meaning that you don’t have to worry too much when storing white wines in the winter.
White wine can be stored at temperatures as low as 7°C - but even white wine isn’t suitable for freezing.
If you’re on the hunt for efficient cooling systems that come equipped with internal heaters, look no further than our range of Climadiff products.
Climadiff is the go-to brand for long-term storage, utilising its expertise and knowledge in the industry to manufacture high-quality cooling systems for both collectors and avid wine drinkers.
If you’re looking for a wine cabinet that has an array of key features including heaters and a varied bottle capacity range, look no further than our Climadiff collection. If you want to learn more about the Climadiff products that we stock across our site, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of staff today.