How To Store Organic Wine: Facts & Tips

In 2021, people of all backgrounds are uniting on a single issue: the environment. 

In our daily lives, we’re all looking for ways in which we can personally contribute to making the planet more sustainable for future generations. Some people will decide to carpool to work; others will focus on conserving energy in the home space.

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Every effort made is an admirable one, and over time there are yet more ways in which people can help. 

Storing Organic Wine 

One such method is the decision to start drinking organic wine. Still, when it comes to wine, storage and preservation are just as important as the actual drinking and enjoyment of it. Organic wine comes with its own conditions that need to be met for successful storage also. 

We discuss what some of these requirements are down below. 

What is Organic Wine?

To understand how to store organic wine effectively, you should first try to gain a good understanding of how it’s made and why it matters. 

As you no doubt know, wine is made from grapes. However, these grapes are typically sourced through methods involving chemicals. Pesticides, fungicides, fertilisers, and so forth make regular appearances here. Sulphites, otherwise known as sulphur dioxides, are also out. 

When it comes to the creation of organic wine, the grapes are farmed naturally while the chemical process is excluded. Organic wine is also free of all additives, with colouring and flavouring agents also being decidedly omitted from the manufacturing process. Ultimately, all of this explains why the purchase and consumption of organic wine can invariably help the environment at large. 

Other potential ingredients, such as yeast, also need to be qualified as being ‘organic’ in addition to the grapes. You’ll also find that organic wine contains less sugar, artificial or otherwise. 

It’s also worth mentioning that what’s defined as ‘organic wine’ largely differs from country to country, so if you’re abroad seeking some, you may wish to delve deeper into their specific standards with research. Looking into the practices of the vineyards, and judge as to whether they meet your standards. 

Why You Need To Store it Correctly

The storing of regular wine is a meticulous endeavour at the best of times. For their organic counterparts, more contingencies need to be considered. 

The omission of sulphites is significant. Sulphites operate to draw out the ageing process of wines, helping them to last longer and help drinkers find that sweet spot in the ‘tertiary notes’ (i.e. secondary flavours that are only detectable with the wine’s age). 

Additionally, because organic wine is filtered more than others, the few leftover bacteria remaining after the process will deteriorate quicker than those in regular wine would. 

Broadly speaking, under these influences, you can expect your organic wine to undergo a case of accelerated ageing. While some variations of organic wine can age remarkably well, it’s best to proceed, suspecting that your organic wine won’t last as long as regular wine typically does. 

So, now you know that your organic wines will likely age faster. However, the correct storage precautions will help you extend the shelf life of your wine. 

How to Best Store Organic Wine

Of course, you can’t just put your organic wine on a table surface and hope for the best. Certain conditions need to be met in your storage solutions to better your chances of preservation. 

Unlike regular wines, a glass wine cellar labyrinth or wine room won’t help you much here. Instead, the basic requirements you need to meet are: 

• Maintaining the right temperatures – organic wine is best stored between 12-18 degrees Celsius. A  wine cooler can help you manage this well. 
• Using a dark area for storage – organic wine is even more sensitive to UV light than its regular counterpart. If you are worried about comprising on this for cooler arrangements,  built in wine cooler variations can help. 
• Having a backup plan – If for any reason you cannot store your wine in a shrouded kitchen area, an  ageing wine cabinet in your garage should suffice nicely. They’ll even be effective outside – there are no glass panels, so UV light won’t manage to get in. 
• Knowing time parameters– As mentioned, organic wine doesn’t last forever. Once opened, seal the bottle securely to prevent oxidation as you would with other wines. After that, make sure to consume it all within one year. 

Follow these measures, and your organic wine should be stored with optimum efficiency. Prioritise consistency in your efforts, also – it only takes a small amount of UV light to spoil organic wine. Any relaxing of these rules will likely result in the drink spoiling. 

Could Your Storage Methods be Informative?

If you’re proactive about the environment, it might be that you can add clever little nuances to your methods of storing organic wine. 

The bottles of organic wines must be adorned with labels indicating their status. The information featured may pertain to the carbon-neutral practices in their creation, the recyclability of the bottle, and which regulating body has authorised its status. All this data can be invaluable to the drinker. 

Depending on whether you’re using a cooler or cabinet or storing your wine horizontally (and typically you should be regardless of whether it's organic), it could be that you could turn the wine around it is position so that the labels are facing the one perusing.

Who knows, perhaps they’ll be intrigued by what they see? It could even be that they’ll do their own research on their own time or begin a discussion with you about the environment and how to help your cause. 

Labels are often overlooked by people when buying products, but the eco-friendly varieties could be most likely to catch the eye.

These issues are at the fore of public consciousness today, so at the very least, it’s intriguing trivia that can kickstart a more meaningful dialogue. Keep the labels on your organic wine in view, and who knows what might come of it in the long run?

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