Storage

John Conwell · Post by **John Conwell** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:28 pm

I'm starting to collect more bottles than my little wine rack can hold. What is the suggested method for storing ports for long periods? I'm a beginner, so be verbose

jon bricken · Post by **jon bricken** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 3:33 pm

It sounds like you have been bitten by the port/wine bug.

I suggest seeing your local wine doctor for a professional diagnosis since it is clear that this could turn out to be a long term illness.

My suggestion is to plan to own many more bottles han you could ever immagine.

I have just awakened from my initial bout with the same bug and find I have over 4000 bottles stored in a myrid of places from commercial storage to a passive situation in our vacation location.

My wife believe that this is a life time addiction and wants me to get professional help, but then she has a bit of the bug herself and loves the symptoms.

Good luckwith you quest.

John Conwell · Post by **John Conwell** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:38 pm

Yup, I think I've got that bug.

i'm hitting about 50 bottles and my wine rack ran out of space 20 bottles ago.

So more specifically i'm looking for storage help. Do i get a bigger rack? Do I store then in crates? Is storing port different than other wines? Is it good to store them on their sides with the cork wet, or upright? etc, etc

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:51 pm

John, first thing you want to have when you are storing Port and other wines for the long term is a cool, humid, temperature controlled and free vibration space. If you have temperature variation over the seasons between 8 and 20 celcius it is not that bad, but maybe not optimal. I have a few bottles in this situation, I'm unable to fit the storage as fast as my buying pace :)

The best thing, in my opinion, when you start having you little stash of Port and wine is to buy a appartment cellar. I'd say at least 200 bottles, because it is not much more expensive than a 100 bottles and the latter gets filled too quickly. Eurocave makes one of the best on the market, and now they can regulate humidity.

For a few bucks more than this, if you have the place and you do it yourself, you can make yourself a cellar in the basement of your house by insulating a room in the basement. The advantage with this is that for the price of the 200 bottles appartment cellar, you have a 1000 places cellar. Racking is between .75$ to 1$ per bottle and then around 1000$ for a good compressor if you need one.

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:01 am

John,

I can't talk about specifics in the US, but in the UK you can also find professional wine storage companies who will hold your wine in perfect storage conditions until you want to get it back.

The cost is modest - around £7-10 per year - and complements well the cellar suggestion that Fred has made.

Alex

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:39 am

John,

Welcome to the site, and glad the port bug gotcha!!

I use an off-site storage for almost all of my stuff. It is easier than putting a large wine refridgerator in my house. I do have a small 50 bottle cooler at my house that I store stuff I plan to drink in the near future, which saves trips to the wine locker. Not sure what the summers are like in Seattle, but if you have a closet that stays cold year round this would work as a temporary storage spot.

I store my port in wood crates, which I get free from my local wine store. Most stores will give them to you if you ask. Unless there is a white paint splash on the bottles, the label should be "up" when you store them on their sides. Storing is pretty much the same as wine when it comes to temperature and humidity.

However, since Madiera defies all wine rules, it should be stored standing upright.

Alexis · Post by **Alexis** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:00 pm

Andy,
You say :

Unless there is a white paint splash on the bottle

I have a few VP's here (my first ones), about half of them have that particular white spash, the other half do not. Right now I have all of them facing their label "up". Are you saying that the splashes should be "up", regardless of the label's position? Why so?

Thanx for enlightning me !

Alexis

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:01 pm

Alexis,

If a bottle has a white paint splash on it the bottle should be stored with the white paint up. The paint indicated what side the bottle was stored at the house prior to being released for sale, and often before any label was placed on it. The paint is so you can return the bottle to the same spot where the sediment had settled in the bottle. The paint is not often seen on recent vintages as it is very labor intensive and thus expensive to do.

IMHO, this is more a tradition, which I hope houses start doing again as I love the paint on the bottles. But no harm will come by storing those painted bottles with thier labels up.

John Conwell · Post by **John Conwell** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:08 pm

Thanks for the great comments everyone. I think I'll start with the off site storage solution for now. And keep about 20-30 bottles local. The summers here get around 85F on a hot day, but we have a basement which stays fairly cool year round. Unfortunatly I dont think the wife would go for my personal wine room, no matter how much I'd want one

Is there anyone in the Seattle area that would be interested in getting together to share a few bottles?

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:02 am

John,

Welcome to the website. I live near Seattle in Sammamish (25 miles East) and frequently host offlines around the city at various restaurants. Have we met and if not, how did you find out about the website?

Anyway, there is ONE great off site wine storage facility in Seattle. The others are OK, but there is ONE to call:

Chuck Miller @ Seattle Wine Storage.
122 Terry Ave N, Seattle, 98109 - (206) 628-4802

When I was moving here a decade ago, I flew all my Ports overnight to Chuck's place and was a customer for years until I had a cellar built in my home. Call him and tell him I sent you. I am sure he'd charge you double!

Seriously, you will not find better service, security, quality of the facility and fair pricing. Your search is over!

John Conwell · Post by **John Conwell** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:42 am

Hi Roy,
I don’t think we've ever met before. I got into Port because of a joke a year ago at a restaurant. I was feeling silly and a “20 year Tawny Port” just sounded pretentious, so I got one with my dessert.  And that was it. I’ve been drinking tawny’s for the past year and just started playing around with LVPs a few months ago. I haven’t tried a VP yet, as I don’t have a decanter yet, but I’m looking forward to my first one with great anticipation!

I’ve been trying to increase my knowledge on wine in general and ports in particular, and stumbled across this site doing a google on “port wine”. What a great resource and repository of information! Thanks to everyone who has posted their notes on here.

And thanks for the tip on both The Spanish Table and Seattle Wine Storage!

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:00 am

John,

Don't let the lack of a decanter stop you from having a VP. I frequently don't use one - especially if I have an old bottle covered in cellar dirt and I want to make an impact at the table. What I do then is to decant the wine off the sediment into a 1 litre (2 pint) clean kitchen jug.

I then rinse out the wine bottle, make sure its clean and pour the wine back into the bottle.

A few hours later, I serve the wine and it makes a great impact.

Go on, what have you got to lose.....

Alex

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:57 pm

Don't let Alex fool you John. He takes his VP bottles in the back yard, near the tomato plants and rubs dirt on his bottles to give them that old down and dirty appearance.

In all seriousness, Alex is right. You can purchase an inexpensive decanter for under $30 if you look around. Less if you go to non-wine specific retail shops like Trader Joe's, Costco, World Market, Cost Plus etc.

If you and your friends ever want to do a Port tasting, let me know. I'd be glad to come join you folks and share some commentary.

Michael M. · Post by **Michael M.** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:14 am

Professional wine storage- Unfortunately I do not have the faintest idea of the (fair) price per bottle and year. Alex, the mentioned costs (7-10 BP per year- the costs per 12er case or a larger unit?

Thank you.
Michael

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:59 am

I pay £6 per case per year - the price is the same for a case of 6 or a case of 12

Derek

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:09 pm

I pay GBP 7-10 per case of 12 bottles......but only half that for a case of 6 bottles or less.

Alex

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:28 pm

John,

Just looking through some older posts and I was wondering if you ended up getting off site storage, or did you convince the wife to let you have a "personal wine room."

John Conwell · Post by **John Conwell** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 7:11 am

No, not yet. Right now I've got a friend with a wine cellar, who is letting me store my bottles there. I'll probably be getting an off site storage within a year or two.

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:36 am

jon wrote:
I have over 4000 bottles

Oh good. There's someone who is much more badly afflicted than I. It makes me feel almost sane..

My total cellar count (table wines included) is just shy of 1100, over 900 of them Port. Average age is just over 21 years.

If space is short, a double depth wine rack is very useful.

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:44 am

John,

Did you ever make contact with Chuck Miller at Seattle Wine Storage? It is by far, the best place to keep your wine (beyond your own cellar) in our entire region. If you have not done so, I urge you to go and check it out.