You don’t need a cellar to store wine well. A few simple rules will keep your bottles in great condition, whether you’re keeping them for a week or for years. Here’s how to store wine at home, and how long it lasts once opened.
The five rules of storing wine
1. Keep it cool
The ideal storage temperature is around 10–15°C, with 12°C often seen as perfect. Heat is wine’s biggest enemy. Above about 20°C, wine ages faster and can start to taste stewed. Avoid the kitchen, especially near the oven or fridge, and avoid lofts and conservatories.
2. Keep the temperature steady
Big swings in temperature are worse than a slightly warm but stable spot. Repeated warming and cooling can push wine past the cork and let air in. A cupboard under the stairs, a spare room or a garage that doesn’t freeze are often good choices.
3. Keep it dark
Sunlight and even strong household lighting can damage wine, giving it unpleasant flavours. Clear and light-coloured bottles, like many rosés and whites, are particularly vulnerable.
4. Lie cork-sealed bottles on their side
Storing bottles on their side keeps the cork moist, so it doesn’t dry out, shrink and let air in. Screwcap wines can be stored upright.
5. Keep it still
Avoid places with lots of vibration, like on top of the washing machine. Older wines with sediment, in particular, are best left undisturbed.
Do you need a wine fridge?
If you’re keeping wine for more than a few months, or have bottles you plan to age for years, a wine fridge is a good investment. It keeps wine at a steady temperature, humidity and darkness. For wines you’ll drink within a few months, a cool, dark cupboard is fine.
Don’t store wine in your kitchen fridge for weeks at a time. It’s very dry and cold, which can dry out corks.
Which wines are worth keeping?
Most wines, around 90% of what’s made, are designed to be enjoyed within a year or two. Fresh whites, rosés and fruity reds are best drunk young.
Wines that can improve with age include:
- Top red Bordeaux, Barolo, Rioja Gran Reserva and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
- Vintage port, such as Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim.
- Good Riesling and top white Burgundy.
- Vintage Champagne, such as Taittinger Brut Vintage.
How long does wine last once opened?
Once opened, wine starts to react with oxygen and slowly loses its freshness. Re-seal it and keep it in the fridge, even reds, to slow this down.
- Sparkling wine: 1–2 days with a sparkling wine stopper.
- Light whites and rosé: 3–5 days in the fridge.
- Full-bodied whites: 3–5 days in the fridge.
- Reds: 3–5 days, re-corked and kept in the fridge. Take them out an hour before drinking.
- Fino and manzanilla sherry: about a week in the fridge.
- Port and sweet sherry: several weeks; tawny port up to two or three months.
- Madeira: months.
- Bag-in-box wine: around 4–6 weeks, as the bag stops air getting in.
Tips for keeping opened wine fresh
- Re-cork or screw the cap back on as soon as you’ve poured.
- Use a vacuum pump stopper to remove some of the air.
- Pour leftover wine into a smaller bottle, so there’s less air in contact with it.
- Keep it in the fridge.
Leftover wine that’s a little past its best is still great for cooking. Try it in a stew or in our mulled wine recipe.
FAQs
Should wine be stored upright or on its side?
On its side if it has a natural cork; upright is fine for screwcaps.
Can you store wine in the garage?
Yes, as long as it doesn’t get too hot in summer or freeze in winter, and the temperature is fairly steady.
Does unopened wine go off?
Everyday wines are best within a year or two of purchase. They won’t become unsafe, but they gradually lose their freshness.
Learn how to spot faulty wine in our guide to corked wine.