I definitely worried about which way up my bottles were being stored (Amsterdam apartments are not large so I have them every which way). Thanks for the reassurance!
Great article, hot take on the storage position -- I'd be interested to see a study that looks at cork shrinkage on upright v.s. sideways bottles over a much longer period of time because presumably it's possible that the level of humidity would decrease more rapidly over a period of many years with upright storage if a dry cork is a more permeable membrane than one that stays in contact with fluid. That could also allow more alcohol to evaporate over a longer period of storage and more oxygenation (for better or for worse). Perhaps all of that is just part of the myth, but the length of the study that showed "little to no difference" may not have allowed enough time to observe those changes. Anyway, thanks for sharing this, the WSET definitely asserts the horizontal bottle idea without presenting these contradictory studies which is a shame.
Yeah for sure! Like I said think the main benefit of it comes down to it being the most practical way to store bottles anyway. But I think the argument is that given the humidity in the bottle the cork just won’t dry out. While the science backs that up, it’s hard to break with tradition. Particularly so when there’s no significant benefit of doing so.
That completely makes sense, I'm just wondering how stable that level of humidity is over the course of say, 20-30 years. But yeah definitely seems irrelevant for wines that aren't being cellared for the long long term.
Indeed would be interesting to see a proper long term study! Interesting too as a side note, that many of the seriously old bottles out there will have their corks replaced at some point, often after around 20 years into their life. Depends on the bottle of course but quite common in many of the top notch chateau (along with a splash of a similar vintage to bump the headspace).
I definitely worried about which way up my bottles were being stored (Amsterdam apartments are not large so I have them every which way). Thanks for the reassurance!
Yeah I think as long as the temperature/ light conditions are appropriate, you’ll be just fine!
Unfortunately these things are by no means guaranteed! But I do my best, and in any guess I get through the wine quite quickly 😂
Great article, hot take on the storage position -- I'd be interested to see a study that looks at cork shrinkage on upright v.s. sideways bottles over a much longer period of time because presumably it's possible that the level of humidity would decrease more rapidly over a period of many years with upright storage if a dry cork is a more permeable membrane than one that stays in contact with fluid. That could also allow more alcohol to evaporate over a longer period of storage and more oxygenation (for better or for worse). Perhaps all of that is just part of the myth, but the length of the study that showed "little to no difference" may not have allowed enough time to observe those changes. Anyway, thanks for sharing this, the WSET definitely asserts the horizontal bottle idea without presenting these contradictory studies which is a shame.
Yeah for sure! Like I said think the main benefit of it comes down to it being the most practical way to store bottles anyway. But I think the argument is that given the humidity in the bottle the cork just won’t dry out. While the science backs that up, it’s hard to break with tradition. Particularly so when there’s no significant benefit of doing so.
That completely makes sense, I'm just wondering how stable that level of humidity is over the course of say, 20-30 years. But yeah definitely seems irrelevant for wines that aren't being cellared for the long long term.
Indeed would be interesting to see a proper long term study! Interesting too as a side note, that many of the seriously old bottles out there will have their corks replaced at some point, often after around 20 years into their life. Depends on the bottle of course but quite common in many of the top notch chateau (along with a splash of a similar vintage to bump the headspace).