love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12251
 | | 04/14/2005 2:25 PM |
| | Sorry if this has been discussed in the past. Is it best to store these on the side or standing up? | | | |
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9054
| | 04/14/2005 2:29 PM |
| What's a dessert wine?  Did you mean sweet wine?  (had to beat Davidn to the punch 
Laying down... | | | |
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Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11814
| | 04/14/2005 2:42 PM |
| | I lay mine down. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Racker
Posts:1907
| | 04/14/2005 3:04 PM |
| | Lay'em down. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/14/2005 8:37 PM |
| | It's unanimous. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 04/15/2005 12:20 AM |
| Quote:
I lay mine down.
there is a great joke in here somewhere 
i only have 4 bottles and mine are standing up. come to think of it i am not sure where they are  | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 04/18/2005 7:02 PM |
| | madeira-stand up | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12251
| | 04/18/2005 7:05 PM |
| | How about Ports? | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Racker
Posts:1907
| | 04/18/2005 7:11 PM |
| Quote:
How about Ports?
On there "port-sides" naturally. | | | |
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Chris
Grape Sorter
Posts:246
| | 04/18/2005 7:48 PM |
| I apologize in advance in case I'm missing something and there is indeed a distinction, but if the main purpose of laying bottles on their side is to keep the cork from drying out, why would the type of wine make any difference? Regardless, I'm mindful to store my sticky wines on their sides just like all of my other wines, except, of course, it wouldn't matter for screw caps.
I'm surprised no one quipped that they lay their desert wines on their side except for any desert wines in boxes (or cans). That reminds me, whenever I visit the cousins in Italy, I always admire how they sell wine in mini-cartons (like kids' juice boxes) from vending machines and have those little sharp straws to stick in them. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 04/20/2005 12:54 AM |
| | my knowledge is very limited here, but all of the stickies i have had, have had replica corks | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Stomper
Posts:152
| | 04/20/2005 9:43 AM |
| The drying up thing is one thing, maybe, a cork should maintain 5-8% humidity, but cork is not permeable to water, so I'm not sure how that equation would work.
More importantly if you have your wine sotred horizontally, and the cork lets in some oxygen, the surface that can react with the oxygen is minimal and you really won't feel any effects of it in the wine. However, should opoxygen slip in between the cork and the bottle on a wine that is stored vertically, the surface to voulme area is much, much larger, and the effect will be felt before long, i.e. the wine will oxidse.
Dessert wines shoud be more resitant to oxygen, as the dosage of SO2 in them is greater, but you should still keep them on the side for the above reason.
Madeira is (at least considered) nearly indestructable as fat as heat and oxygen is concerned, so the above is not a real danger to it. The bottles are stored upriht so as to minimize contact with the cork, and thus the effects of any potential cork defect.
Port wine does not have this staying power given through oxidation and heating, although it will keep longer than a light wine. It should therefore be kept on its side.
Champagne has a protective layer of CO2 that is inert and prevents oxygen from reacting with the wine. It can therefore be stored uprigth, which means it runs less of a risk of catching a potential cork taint. However, I keep mine horizontal as I don't feel entirely comfortable with the CO2 protection. But that's just me.
Dark sherries (oloroso, amontillado) also have more staying power, and unopened are nearly eternal. In theory you could keep them standing up, but as they, once opened, deterioate much faster than Madeira, I would store them on their side. | | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13627
| | 04/21/2005 1:48 PM |
| I lay mine down.
Question -- are sweet wines more resilient to heat or light or vibration than regular wines? | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12251
| | 04/21/2005 3:43 PM |
| | That's a great post, MarkusRandall. Thanks! | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 04/21/2005 4:37 PM |
| | markus-i have been told madiera can actually corrode the cork, thus the reason for upright storage. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15701
| | 04/22/2005 1:52 AM |
| Is it hopeless?
I don't believe it!
lcc 
I know I'm nutso. For some reason though it is a real hot-spot.
Damn.
Oh... laid down... unless it is a "T" cork or it is waxed.
Lord help me | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12251
| | 04/22/2005 1:36 PM |
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ChangeMe
Grape Stomper
Posts:152
| | 05/03/2005 2:24 PM |
| LoveCabChard - thanks!
Ojeffso2 - yes, I believe that is true as well, although to my knowledge it isn't really anything else than the high alcohol (roughly 19% abv) tha does that (so port should have the same problem). In any case, a regular cork in any wine bottle should be changed 'regularly', that is, if you consider once every 20-30 years to be a regular change. OTOH, I never have heard of anyone recorking madeira? The bottomline is that if you have a wine that is resilient enough to withstand oxygen, why take any risks with the cork.
TJ - Sweet wine shouldn't be any more resistant to light and heat than wines that aren't sweet. Curiously, sweet wines tend to be stored in colourless glass which would indicate the opposite regarding light, but there are probably other reasons for that. Green, brown and opaque bottles have better protection against UV-light than clear bottles, which is why wines that are meant to mature in bottle for a long time tend to come in particularly dark bottles. (Port, for instance.)
Regarding vibration, I don't think there is too much of a conscensus on the effect of it on wine maturation. While agitation certainly increases the speed of chemical reactions in general, occasional vibrations really shouldn't do too much else to a wine, than perhaps unsettle the sediment, which I guess could be annoying when decanting. I suppose a wine that is constantly shaken for a few years might develop faster, or in a less balanced manner, than one that rests peacefully. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15701
| | 05/03/2005 10:44 PM |
| Quote:
...withstand oxygen, why take any risks with the cork.
TJ - Sweet wine shouldn't be any more resistant to light and heat than wines that aren't sweet. Curiously, sweet wines tend to be stored in colourless glass...
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ChangeMe
Grape Stomper
Posts:152
| | 05/11/2005 8:06 AM |
| Bugger, eh?
Regarding the staying power of sweet wines, the point that sugar and alcohol both are preservatives thorughly escaped me. So add those to the equation. | | | |
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