My wine is now in a basement room that stays around 65-68 degrees all year round. I am surprised the basement is not colder during Michigan winters but it’s not. Will the wine just mature more quickly or am I facing other issues/problems?
You are going to get responses that run the spectrum from the wine will be ruined to you have nothing to worry about. I think your assessment is pretty accurate.
Before I moved to a house that had a basement I stored wine in worse conditions, some for many years. I can’t say that I have had a bottle ruined due to long term storage at those temps. I am sure others will disagree.
My answer is the wine is certainly SAFE at those temps. No cooking/spoilage will occur, but like you suggest the aging curve may be accelerated some over wines stored at 55F.
My question is where is the heat coming from? Is there a heat source in the room or is it surrounded by heated space, door, etc… I ask because a well insulated room with outside ground exposure should indeed be cooler than that at higher latitudes.
FWIW, my passive cellar (equipped with cooler that I have turned off for winter here) has been holding a steady 61 F since late November. Yesterday I went down and realized I had not closed the door securely prior time down. Really just not latched but door “closed” leaving a tiny gap of airspace. The temp inside was 63 F. I reclosed securely and fully expect by tonight it will be back at 61.
I also keep all my wine in a full subterranean basement and have had the same thoughts. Once you get below ground the temps really stabilize to 55-65ish in all seasons for me here in Seattle. In the depth of winter the wines are quite cold and even on the hottest days of summer they are still cool to the touch. Before temp controlled wine cellars this was a normal cycle aging wines went through. I think the most important worry is excess heat, which is not a problem and extreme humidity one way or another.
Anecdotal information alert…
One of the older guys in my tasting group has been storing wines in his 63-68 degree basement since the mid-1960s. The Ports and Bordeaux from vintages such as 1966, 1970, etc. are still showing quite well.
Are you planning on drinking the wines? You are fine. If it is for auction, they might have issues with it.
Well said.
I would guess that when Jim asks “will the wine mature more quickly,” we’re probably talking a very slight difference, not a big one. Like a bottle might mature in 19 years what it would mature in 20 years in a Eurocave. Just my guess, though.
I am also surprised that a Michigan basement room doesn’t tend to stay cooler than that, though. Is it just that the house is heated and that influences the temperature in that room where your wine is?
It is a 2600 square foot ranch house.All heat in the basement is turned off. The wine room has one outside wall facing west and is at the opposite end of the basement from the furnace. I was also surprised it did not get colder since my last 3 houses had nice cold basements. It may be because the basement is about 2-3 feet above ground instead of fully subterranean.
Nope!
They will just list the wine as “removed from an underground cellar.”
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How does humidity (too much or lack thereof) affect wine storage? I do realized that humidity is a function of temperature, so all relative.
Or transfer the wines temporarily so they can claim “removed from a temperature controlled cellar.”
I think that temperature range is fine, and agree with the comments above. I have several old-timer friends who’ve been using passive storage for decades, and the wines have been just fine.
Old school wines were designed to take a lot of abuse. If you have wines in the “natural” or low-SO2 vein, the risk of biological activity impacting the wine goes up with temperature and time.
Also, there’s anecdotal evidence that seems logical that temperature fluctuation is a bigger worry than a slightly warmer than ideal temp. So, a gradual seasonal range of 58-68 might not be such a big deal, but doing that daily would.
I think you’re screwed. As soon as the snow melts we’re all coming over to help you drink it up before it spoils. We’ll need lots of steaks btw.
Too arid and the cork can dry out, making the wines more vulnerable. (Especially bad if the wine is stored neck up.) Too humid and you risk external aesthetic damage, such as wrinkled labels, oxidized capsules and mold.
Someone call Bryan Flannery…
Don’t I recall cursory studies done on storage temp/ wine development?
Probably saw it here or on the other board years ago.
68 year round is significantly warmer that 55, but there’s no risk of outright spoilage.
Just my own hunch, but I’d peg something that’s made to “mature” (for ones pre-determined personal taste) at 20 years, stored at 55 = 12-14 years at 68. The shorter maturation would perhaps not reach quite the same level of improvement vs. advancement.
Your basement must well insulated.
This is the conventional view of humidity and storage. There is a significant (probably minority) who doubt that a cork, against liquid on the other side, is actually going to dry up, shrink and allow air to pass because the humidity % on the outside is lower. I’m sure there are some long threads on WB that you can find using the search function where people debate that.
I don’t see how it could stay that warm. I am in Mo (KC area) and mine stays between 45-55 in an underground cellar year round.
Yeah, not likely if it’s on its side. But, my conjecture for certain corks I’ve seen is they (eventually) draw in wine and saturate in an arid environment. Then the cork can shrink and drop if you stand them up. I’ve had a few saturated corks dry out to a third the diameter in the days after being pulled, but they did do their job in protecting the wine.
I have had cork failures on a few old second-hand bottles. Quite possibly because they were stood up for shipping or awaiting pick-up, and maybe other times in the process.