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Regular wine drinkers will almost certainly have wine knocking about the house. It may be just a few bottles or caseloads. Either way this wine requires storing.

To keep wine and enjoy it in its best condition there are a few basic rules that you will need to abide by:

1 Where you keep wine is important. If you have just a few bottles and intend to drink them within a couple of weeks by all means keep them in the kitchen or drinks cupboard. If you intend to keep wine longer this really is not an option as they will be subjected to extremes of temperature which will damage the majority of wines.

2 Lay wine bottles flat. Any wine which you intend to keep for more than 2 weeks (or days for an old wine) should be kept laying on their side. The reason for this being that the cork expands when wet so if the bottle is kept upright the cork will shrink letting in air which will turn your potentially wonderful wine to vinegar. To seriously store wine lay the bottles with the labels uppermost so that when you came to decant them the sediment will always have fallen on to the side of the bottle opposite the label.

3 Make sure the environment is good. It is best to keep wine in a place where the temperature is constant and there is little light (wine prefers darkness). This is why a traditional underground cellar is best, they are cool and dark. Nowadays, unless you live in an old country mansion, this is not a possibility but an under stairs cupboard could be the next best thing.

Planning a cellar

Having a wine collection at home, no matter how small, will give you a wide variety for when you want to drink wine or have friends round for a meal.

You need to plan your cellar and collection around wines for drinking now, or over the next year and wines for drinking in the future. Wines for drinking now are easy to choose but to choose wines for the future may require a little more skill in choosing and it may be best to ask the advice of your wine supplier.

Red Wines to Drink Now

Try and choose the best vintages of the following: red Loires, fruity Beaujolais, mature red Bordeaux and Burgundy, mature Rioja, Navarra, riber del Duero, soft Californian merlot, Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot, Portuguese reds and Chilean reds.

White Wines to Drink Now

Again choose the best vintages : white Burgundies, fresh Loires, rich New World whites from Australia, California and New Zealand, Bulgarian Chardonnay, Champagne, Muscadet and new style Spanish wines.

Red Wines to Lay Down Medium Term

For these wines choose a good vintage from 2-8 years old of the following : Bordeaux, Crusbourgeois, good Californian and Australian Cabernet and Shiraz and lesser Northern Rhones.

White Wines to lay Down Medium term

Look for good vintages from 1-3 years old of the following : Graves, German Kabinett to Beerenauslese, New World Chardonnay and Sauvignon, sweet Loires, lesser sauternes, Burgundy and Champagne.

Red Wines to Lay down Long term

Choose any good vintage up to 15 years of the following : top red Bordeaux, Cote d'Or Burgundy, Rhone, top California and Australian Cabernet sauvignons and Shiraz, top Italians like Sassicaia or Barolo, good Riojas, vega Sicilia and vintage ports.

White Wines to Lay Down Long term

Look for any good vintage up to 10 years old of the following: the best Graves, German Auslese to Beerenauslese, sweet Loires, top sauternes, the best Cote d'Or burgundy and Vintage Champagne

Learn more about this author, Karen Reams.
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