Do you know what the shelf life of wine is?

Ordinary food has a mandatory expiration date on their labels, the date by which they must be consumed. It is even mentioned on bottled beer. The exception is wine, which is also not common food. On the labels of wine bottles you will find information about the place and time of production, its composition and properties, but you would look for the expiration time in vain. If you are wondering why this is the case, read some of the information here.

What is on the label

From the label or vignette you can read how the wine was produced, or what wine it is. It also tells you the place of origin of the wine and the date of production, from which you can deduce the age of the wine. However, most of the better wines are marked by vintage on the vignette. A good wine lover also knows that many of the bottles that are sold in everyday stores are made not to be stored for too long. It is important for the customer to enjoy the fresh taste of wine, which he should not store too long.

Vintage wines

In this case, these are completely different types of wines, which you can only buy in specialized stores and wine shops. These wines, on the other hand, are made so that they can be stored or archived. If these wines are stored in the right way, they will last many years in good condition. That is why it is called “aging like wine”, which means that by aging it gains in quality and also in price. That is why wine labels do not indicate the expiration date. It is practically impossible, as quality vintage wines are still in circulation often after several decades of harvest. For example, quality cabinet wine can be sold in stores 1-3 years after harvest. Some berry wines arrive in the shop only 3 years after harvest. They just apply to them, the older the better. Wine life depends on the type of wine and the quality of storage. This applies to wines in barrels and bottles. In addition to table wines, or slightly better brand wines, you can store the wine for several years.

How to store wine properly

The temperature should be constant between 10-12 ° C and fluctuations should not exceed two degrees. The storage room should have a sufficient humidity of about 65% and there should be no daylight.

The bottles must be laid in such a way that the wine is in contact with the cork closure.

Wine shelf life

Producers have adapted to the trend and you will not find wines suitable for archiving in ordinary stores. The emphasis is on the fresh taste and therefore for drinking wines, the younger the better. At the same time, the principle is that wine originating in the northern hemisphere should be consumed by the spring of the following year and in the southern hemisphere a month earlier. If you open the wine, aeration, oxidation and rapid aging occur. Therefore, the wine should be drunk immediately after opening. If this is not possible, they should be properly sealed with a cork stopper and stored in the refrigerator. Even so, it is necessary to consume the wine within 10 days at the latest.

Also read: Does chocolate have a minimum shelf life?

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