THE WINE-PRESS Home Storage Need Not Be A Problem

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32210, 31 January 1970, Page 16

THE WINE-PRESS Home Storage Need Not Be A Problem

(Bu J. C. GRAHAM, in the "N.Z. Economist." Reprinted by arrangement) ■ The aim of these notes has always been to discuss wines for the average man or woman—call us if' you like, in the fashionable phrase, the silent majority. A great deal is written about wine, but most of it is by wine growers or merchants or other experts connected in some way with the trade. They deal with wine constantly and they get to know a lot about it. But their advice is apt to be based on what is ideal, particularly for European wines in a European setting. Take, for instance, standard instructions about a cellar for keeping wines at home. Anyone would think that you might as well give up unless you have a cool brick vault deep in the earth With a temperature that hardly varies the year round. One book I have evep recommends two cellars—one for white and sparkling wines at 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the other for reds at 50 to 55. “In any case,” it adds, “no cellar should ever rise above 60 degrees." At' this point the silent majority is apt to become a little irritated to say the least and give the whole idea away. Coolest Place What is needed is simply a place to keep available supplies in as favourable conditions as possible. The reason wine is stored underground for preference is that such an arrangement meets many of the requirements—wine there can be cool, undisturbed, away from direct sunlight and with minimum temperature variation. The problem, then becomes one of finding a place in your home which is nearest to such a prescription. Think of the recent hot weather and work out the coolest place. Under the house, under the stairs, a cupboard in a room which does not get much sun and where things are not constantly shaken about? The least suitable place is usually the kitchen, with steam and variable temperatures from cooking. If summer temperatures in your cellar soar in spite of everything, do not despair. The effect could be for the

wine to mature rather more rapidly than desirable, but the results will seldom be fatal. A~ stack of field tiles or similar pipes forms one very effective means of storage. Individual bottles can be removed without disturbing the others and the cooling effect is quite marked. But if you go by the books, with their recommendations on keeping wines for quarter or a century or so. you may see little point in having a cellar at all. As ordinary New Zealanders, let’s think in a different dimension. Under present conditions in New Zealand, with the demand for better wines extremely keen, much wine is sold almost as soon as it is put in the bottle. Almost all of it will improve if kept even a few months. Improves With Age The fashionable advice is that sherries and ports (other than vintage port—how much vintage port have you bought lately?), sparkling wines and white wines are ready for drinking when sold. White wines are best drunk young and fresh, runs the advice.

Maybe so, but I have yet to come across a New Zealand white which was not better the season after vintage and I would say such a delay was almost mandatory with pinot Chardonnay. But the wines which most

repay keeping are undoubtedly . table reds, and among those the ones best worth maturing are the named varieties such as pinotage and cabernet sauvignon. Not too much is known about what is the best age to drink New Zealand table reds because so little has been kept for long, particularly among the varietals. They certainly go on improving markedly for several years. Some companies are bottle ageing most of their production of better reds for two or three years before releasing them on the market—they will usually continue improving if kept for a further period. Vital Factor Finally, a vital factor which I have never yet seen discussed in any erudite work —how do you keep the wine inviolate for a few years once you have laid it down? How do you avoid an emergency where you have to grab it to fill a vital need in the middle of your next dinner party?

The first essential is to buy additional above your normal needs while establishing a reserve. Another useful ploy is to make the wine to keep more inaccessible than that for present use—in an unopened case or carton, or under other supplies. The harder it is to get at, the more chance it has of surviving tomaturity.