Storing Bottles Upright in a Cellar

[Guest]

I am getting tired of storing my bottles upside down lately - Especially with some of the cheaper boxes in use, its always a worry when you upend the wine and wonder if gravity will be stronger than the cardboard.

So I was wondering..... I store my wine in professional storage (Humidity and temp controlled) - Is there really any need to keep the cork wet if they are kept at constant temp and humidity ??? Why can't I store my wine upright if I use one of these cellars ?

[jono]

lay them on their side?

put a whole bunch of extra masking take across the top of the box before flipping it up?

put them in new cases (i.e. go to Dan's or somewhere and ask for some boxes, then pick out the stronger ones)

[BetterRedThanDead2]

even in a temp and humidity controlled cellar, the corks can and will eventually dry out and therefore will no longer provide an airtight seal and will allow air into the bottle oxidising the wine.

[Guest]

even in a temp and humidity controlled cellar, the corks can and will eventually dry out and therefore will no longer provide an airtight seal and will allow air into the bottle oxidising the wine.

How long before they start to dry ?

[Davo]

I am currently working my way through a box of 1997 Cab merlot bought at auction dirt cheap. They have obviously been stored upright by the lack of colour on the base of the corks and the fact the corks are all pretty dry and break up on extraction. The quality of the wine has also been pretty variable. Out of the first 8 bottles:-

4 perfect and as expected for their age
1 badly TCA affected (nought to do with the storage of course)
3 variable degrees of oxidation though all drinkable.