You can make winemakers very unhappy.

We have the most fantastic team of winemakers. They are a great bunch of people with some pretty unique talents.

It is their task to take bunches of grapes and turn them into delicious and characterfull wine. To do this they need to understand horticulture, have a great grasp of science (many of them have degrees in biochemistry) and then add that essential artistic element so that the wine turns out exactly how they want it. They are passionate about what they make.

They tend to be pretty stable people too but there is one very easy way to make them weep. Simply present them with one of their creations which is out of condition because of bad storage.

After a year’s hard work tending the vines, after their decision to pick the grapes at exactly the right time, after their skill and scientific precision in the winery and after their time spent in the exacting art of blending just the right amount of different wines to make the final bottle… they know that a customer may never be able to enjoy their creation if the retailer has stored it badly.

As you learned in the first section of this book, wine is a very natural product. It’s not like chilled food in the supermarket which is protected by all sorts of preservatives. It’s not like gin or vodka which are almost chemically inert.

Wine is alive. Wine is natural. Wine is crushed and fermented grape juice and that’s about it.

If you bought another natural product such as a cabbage you would store it in the fridge or a cool room. Wine, although much nicer than cabbage, should be treated in the same way. It should be kept at a constant temperature of around 13ºC / 55ºF. It also doesn’t like a lot of movement.

Have no fear. The same cork which stops the wine getting out will stop moisture getting in, so if you have a damp cellar or storage area the wine won’t become contaminated. However the label, which we invest time and money on, is what sells the wine to your customer and if it’s peeling, mouldy or wet it just won’t be able to do it’s job.

The colour, especially in red wine, is natural and comes from the grape skin. In the same way that when you put a poster in the window that fades over time, wine will do the same thing. However since the colour in wine is part of it’s very substance, when a wine fades it will also spoil.

The cork which stoppers most bottles is a natural product. If it dries out it will shrink and let the air in. The wine, also being a natural product, will then go off. The solution is simple. Bottles need to be stored on their side or upside down.

Whenever possible the best place to store your wine is in an air conditioned beer cellar. A very bad place to store your wine is in the spirit locker, particularly if it’s by the boiler.