Thinking of taking your wine collection to the next level? Master of Wine Sarah Heller explains why a wine fridge is a must-have
To the uninitiated, the idea that wine needs its own refrigerator can seem as preposterous as the idea of a closet exclusively for shoes (and yet…). However, just as every Korean household has a separate kimchi refrigerator, the wine lover household needs a separate wine refrigerator because a normal refrigerator’s conditions are not ideal for fostering gentle evolution and because if a leak occurs nothing else inside will survive unsullied (though perhaps the latter applies mainly to kimchi).
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Why you need a wine fridge
For wine to mature correctly, storage conditions ought to be as close as possible to an underground cellar in northern Europe. The temperature should be cool but not frigid and, crucially, very stable. The humidity should be relatively high (60% +/- 10%). There should be no disturbance from light or vibration. The vicinity should contain nothing malodorous. Bottles should have space to lie horizontally undisturbed for as long as their owners can hold off drinking them.
Many of these conditions, which are approximated as closely as possible in a wine refrigerator (or “cabinet”), are aimed at keeping the cork seal intact. For example, humidity doesn’t affect the wine per se, but in an arid environment the cork will dry out and lose its elasticity, allowing oxygen to leach into the bottle too quickly. On the other hand, humidity is not kind to labels, which is why saran-wrapped bottles of DRC and Pétrus, revolting as they look, are quite a common sight in high-end wine shops.