Cavist 46 Manuel D'utilisation page 11

If wine is kept at too low a temperature, this can result in the development of harmful deposits. A humidity
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of 70% is ideal for keeping corks from shrinking.
After a bottle of wine has been opened, the wine comes into contact with air. So it is best to store the
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remainder of the bottle upright, to minimize the surface area of the wine that is coming into contact with
the air.
Once opened, wine will remain in a drinkable condition for two days for delicate whites or three days for
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rich reds, as long as the bottle has been resealed. You should make sure that the seal is firm by checking the
stopper.
Special stoppers that keep wine sparkling and Champagne bubbling for one or two days after opening, can
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be bought.
When stored correctly, unopened white wines can keep well for up to two years. Full bodied reds (unopened)
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will age well for ten years and dessert wines (unopened) will age well for up to twenty years.
When you buy a bottle of wine, you should transfer it to a suitable storage location immediately (if you are
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not going to store it in your wine cooler).
Cheaper bottles of wine will not age as well as more expensive ones.
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To make the most of the bouquet and taste of your wine, never fill more than half a glass at a time. It will
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also help if the shape of your wine glass is appropriate for your wine. The size and shape of your wine glass's
bowl will determine the intensity and complexity of the bouquet. The stem should be long enough to allow
you to avoid hand contact with the bowl of the glass and should be tulip-shaped or tapered at the top.
Wine storage problems
Corking - a tiny percentage of bottled wine (about 1%) will suffer from this. The cork reacts with the wine and
gives it a musty, unpleasant taste. It is the most common wine storage problem and is caused by harmless bacteria
growing on the cork. As unfortunate as this is, there is nothing to do but to discard all of the wine in the affected
bottle. This is not to be confused with small fragments of cork floating in the wine itself, which will not impair the
flavour.
Oxidisation - when wine has been opened and left for longer than a day; it tends to lose its aroma and colour,
giving an overall flat taste. The only way to avoid this, it to either drink the wine on the same day it was opened
or to use a vacuum device specially designed for removing oxygen from opened wine bottles. If you use such a
device, the wine should still be consumed shortly afterwards.
Ullage - this is loss of wine from the bottle by evaporation or leakage. Signs of ullage include wine seeping
around the cork, a protruding cork or a stained label. It can happen if the bottle has been allowed to get too
warm. The wine may still be drinkable, if the leakage was recent; however, you should be aware that if the wine
cools down again, contraction can cause more air to be sucked into the bottle and result in further deterioration.
Slight effervescence in still wine - this isn't really a problem with the way the wine has been stored, but as a result
of incomplete malolactic fermentation before the wine was bottled. A good way to get rid of the effervescence
is to let the wine breathe. Alternatively you can use a bottle vacuum device, after about five minutes the
effervescence will vanish.
Sediment - this is not normally a problem, however both red and white wines can produce sediment after a
number of months in a bottle. The sediment consists of tartrate crystals and is totally harmless. If anything the
building of sediment can be considered a good sign because it means that the wine was not subjected to much
(if any) filtering, meaning that the flavours and aromas should be preserved better.
A good way to get around sediment (if it is a problem) is to stand the bottle upright, the day before opening, so
that the sediment can settle to the bottom of the bottle.