Need Advice on New Storage and Stelvin Implications

[Chuck]

We moved from Adelaide to Sydney a few years ago. In Adelaide we had a typical passive underground cellar that whilst not perfect storage was adequate for medium term storage.

Transported wines to Sydney during winter a year or so ago and now have them stored in a series of bordeaux style racks in an internal dark cupboard. I believe some of the aging/deterioration process for wines under cork is the minute ingress of air as the wine heats up, the cork pushed up slightly, during the day and cools at night. With most of my wines under stelvin I was wondering if this aging/deterioration process will be much reduced compared to cork? With an air conditioned house and the sheer mass of wines in close storage (around 350 bottles) the actual intra day temperature variation in the cupboard is not too bad. My guess is it doesn't get much above say 23C and below 17C most summer days. If the warmer storage actually quickens the aging process I'm all in. The glacial aging under stelvin has always been frustrating. Long term storage should not be an issue as most wines will be drunk within 10 years of purchase. So far wines have been good.

[Ian S]

Hi Chuck
There are different grades of stelvin, notably in how much oxygen ingress they allow, so the answer might vary from bottling to bottling.

I'm no expert on cork failures, but issues from memory include: the cork drying out in an environment with low humidity; cork losing elasticity as temperature varies repeatedly, very high temperatures forcing the cork up and/or wine seeping out (from increased pressure in the bottles). Oh and TCA and mere variability of seal as well.

So will slightly warmer temperatures risk the same problems with Stelvin? No

Is max daily temp of 17-23c a problem? No I don't expect it to be.

Will warmer temperatures result in faster ageing, but along the same trajectory of how the wine will taste, simply hitting optimal maturity earlier. No, sadly it's not that simple. However given the still moderate temperature, I don't see a risk of 'cooked' wines. Given you're aiming to drink under 10 years age, I really wouldn't sweat it. Probably also worth avoiding wines that demand cellaring (e.g. Wendouree, classic left bank claret, maybe even hunter semillon), but I assume that's already factored into your buying.

hope this helps

[tarija]

If you mostly store Stelvin and drink within 10 years, and are confident of max 23 degrees, I think all good.

Presuming they are Aussie wines mostly - gutfeel that they are more durable than old world, especially combined with Stelvin.

[sjw_11]

I concur with Ian and tarija

[Sean]

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[Ian S]

I'm more relaxed about the stated variation, but it's a fair comment from Sean to challenge if that's borne out in reality, as (e.g.) I'd be much more concerned by a week at 30C or higher. I guess the key is whether the aircon always kicks in if the temperature hits the low 20s, including when away on holidays etc.

Also Gago's comment about screwcaps hiding heat damage is valid for sure. Perhaps more of a concern on the secondary market though, where someone could dump knowingly f*cked wine onto unsuspecting buyers. Sadly I suspect that is a genuine risk.

[Sean]

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[Chuck]

Many thanks to everyone for their input. A lot to digest. I guess my storage is less than optimal but in the absence of a viable cost effective option I'll stick with it and try to drink earlier. Say less than 5 years. We are both retired so usually have the ac on most warm days. I would be worried if we worked away from home without ac on. When we travel we get in house sitters who are encouraged to use the ac in warmer months. With 35C forecast for today and tomorrow the house will stay around 23C day and night. So far after 3 years in the house I don't think I've had a bad or different (bottle variation) bottle. I do like stelvin as I know exactly how the wines will taste.

I will drink soon rather than later those older bottles brought from Adelaide. Tough gig but it's been fun. Revealing long forgotten wines has been fun. However my days of buying the likes of Wynns Black Label are over unfortunately unless they are pre aged by someone else. But then you have the issue of dealing at auctions where stelvin can hide cooked wines. Oddbins auctions in Adelaide have a "P" for provenance for lots from known good storage.

As an aside I'd be very interested in knowing how wineries store their wines. If not optimal (say in a large shed without temperature control), buying older vintages direct could be problematic particularly for those in the warmer areas - Coonawarra, Barossa, McLaren Vale, Margaret River etc.