If it’s true that Champagne is the longest-lived wine in the world, it’s equally true that some factors such as temperature, light and humidity have a direct impact on its conservation and, if mismanaged, can negatively influence its evolution and quality over the time. time. Especially now that it's summer and the temperatures are high a little more care is needed.
Here are the rules to follow to preserve and keep your bottles of Champagne in excellent conditions.
The storage place: Champagne must rest in a cool place at a constant temperature, an airy space to avoid the formation of mold and bad smells and away from sources of light and heat. The absence of vibrations is also relevant: the bottles must be placed on a shelf avoiding being handled repeatedly. After a long journey, always leave them to rest, the pressure inside a bottle, in fact, is 5-6 bar and is equivalent to 3 times the pressure of a car tyre.
The natural cellar is certainly the desirable place, like the adjustable temperature and humidity controlled cellars. Never store bottles for long periods in the refrigerator: the risk is that the cork dries up, accelerating the oxidation process and affecting the bouquet of perfumes and aromas on the nose and in the mouth.
Since wine is photosensitive, it is good to remember that darkness helps to preserve the aromatic integrity of the wine; while prolonged exposure to light can affect its organoleptic characteristics by triggering processes of qualitative decay and altering the olfactory-gustatory properties. Have you ever heard of the “goût de lumière”? It is a defect of white and rosé wines, an alteration of the aromas due to prolonged exposure to light sources (both natural and artificial). The use of dark glass bottles, such as those used for the most of Champagnes, protect the wine from the light and help to limit this problem.
The advice is to maintain a regular temperature between 10 and 15°C, avoiding sudden changes in temperature which can compromise the quality of the wine (especially in the case of sudden increases in temperature). In general, high temperatures accelerate the evolution process, while too low temperatures slow down the aromatic development in the bottle, preventing the Champagne from acquiring greater complexity.
Humidity also plays a fundamental role: it is good to store Champagne in a place where the humidity level is between 60% and 80% in order to preserve cork properties such as flexibility and density. Otherwise, in fact, the cork will not receive enough humidity and will tend to dry out, and will allow air to enter, favoring the oxidation processes of the wine.
As for the position of the bottles, it is ideally horizontal. In this way, in fact, the cork always remains in contact with the wine and prevents air from entering, slowing down oxidation and the dispersion of bubbles. However, in some cases the wine can also be stored in a vertical position: for short periods (as carbon dioxide always maintains a certain degree of humidity and the cork does not dry out too quickly) or if the humidity present in the place of storage is optimal.
Although rarely (at least for us), it can happen that a bottle of Champagne is not finished. Don't worry: once opened, the bottle must be closed with the special airtight cap and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. If well sealed, this is the maximum time for which the bubbles and the aromatic bouquet will maintain their vivacity, otherwise they will be exhausted in less than 24 hours.
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