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Cellaring

Dry wines and fortified wines will improve in mouthfeel and flavour with some bottle aging. On the other hand, if over-cellared, they can fade and loose some of their intensity.

For example, our dry red wines (Western Rivers Run and Ellen Meacle Merlot) are usually drinking well after 2 years in the bottle, will peak after 3 years and should be drunk within 4-5 years of bottling. Our dry whites (Explorers Chardonnay and Beardmore's Dry) are usually drinking well after 12 months and should be drunk within 2-3 years of bottling.

Our sweet wines (Major Mitchell White and Dr Seidels Soft Red) are early drinking styles that don’t improve with cellaring. These should be drunk within 18 months of bottling.

Cellaring times are listed on our back label.

So how do I cellar wine?

For storage longer than 3 months, bottles with corks should be laid horizontally in a cool area at a constant temperature of 14-18°C. A rapid 10°C rise or fall in temperature can damage wine. Otherwise, they may fade in freshness and flavour. If corks fail, in time wine will taste like vinegar! Bottles with screw caps can be stood upright.

Your ideal cellar should not be too dry or moist. It should be dark and free from vibrations or odours.

For best results store wine in a coolroom. Alternatively find a cool spot under the house. During heatwave conditions, store in your fridge for shorter periods.

If you can’t store wine properly, drink it! In Queensland, room temperatures commonly exceed 30°C which is too hot for wine.

Breathing wine

Breathing dry reds in particular, will soften your wine, bring out background flavours and soften a potential hangover!

For best results stand the bottle upright for several hours to allow sediment to slide to the bottom. Then gently pour wine into a wine decanter or glass jug with a large surface area, leaving any sediment in the bottle. Leave the wine to breath for 3-4 hours. Rinse the bottle and return the wine to the bottle prior to serving.

The aim of the exercise is to give your wine a light oxidation, meaning to absorb oxygen. While most people just take the cork out and leave the bottle stand, this alone will achieve little! The surface area at the bottle neck is too small to allow sufficient oxidation over a short length of time.

Similarly, you may notice dry reds in particular, drink better after being opened a day or two, depending on what you left in the bottle on day one!

Serving temperatures?

If wines are served too hot, they taste thin. In contrast, if wines are served too cold, they lack aroma and flavour. Recommended serving temperatures are listed on our back labels.

White wines and sweet styles should be served lightly chilled, that is, around 14°C.

Dry reds should be served cool, that is, around 18°C. This means cooling in the fridge for an hour or half an hour in an icebucket to take the edge of them.

Fortified wines can be served at room temperature. However, some of our customers prefer them at 0°C, that is, out of the deep freeze! In Queensland, room temperatures are usually above ideal serving temperature, hence the need for cooling.

Restaurants commonly over-chill white wines and serve red wines too hot!

Avoiding that hangover!

Most hangovers are caused by alcohol and not by the sulphur preservative. If you are heading off to your favourite restaurant and enjoy a wine or two, here are some tips:

• first drink two glasses of water or milk and ensure you are fully hydrated
• between each glass of wine drink another glass of water. At the end of the session, drink two more glasses of water. You might run to the toilet a few extra times, but it sure beats that thumping ache behind the eyes next day! Good restaurants will have carafes of water on tables.
• drink wine with food.
• breath wine as discussed above
• consume wine regularly to keep conditioned
• drink in moderation! Maximum recommended daily intake is 2 glasses of wine for women and 4 glasses for men

Apart from alcohol, there are many other causes of hangovers. Sulphur preservatives do affect some drinkers, as do tannins and histamines in red wine.

For those affected by sulphur, other companies make preservative free wines, although they have a short shelf life.

For those affected by the tannins in red wine, Dr Seidels Soft Red could be an option owing to its low tannin levels.

Keeping wine fresh after opening

What is the best way of preserving that half opened bottle of wine, apart from drinking the other half?

Simply re-corking the bottle and putting it back in the fridge is the most practical way for most. In addition, removing air with a vacuum pump is an advantage. These are available in most kitchen or hardware shops. However, even with re-corking and refrigeration, opened wines will still lose their freshness in time. White wines should be finished by the second day after opening and red wines by the third day after opening.