Interesting video and I agree with you that purchasing good storage is money well spent. My EuroCave wine cabinet was one of my best wine-related purchases! As someone with a chemistry background, I have a few points to add. 1- Temperature not only affects speed of chemical reactions, but also which reactions occur. Bottles stored warmer will age more quickly and also develop different flavors - usually “cooked” flavors. The extreme is, as you say, ruining a bottle in a few hours that gets too hot. 2- Temperature stability is also important bc the airspace expands with temperature. Warming and cooling a bottle can act like a piston that sucks in air through the cork and can lead to oxidation. 3- I never understood why it’s important to avoid vibration. Sure, handling a bottle can interrupt constant temp/humidty/light, but I don’t see how long term vibration affects wine negatively. It can stir up sediment right before serving, but otherwise, this advice has always been a mystery.
noahcap: thank you for your additional comments. For vibration, I think the idea is that wine needs to settle to age properly. Constant vibration is like continously stirring the wine. Here is a paper that talks about the effects of vibration on wine www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889157508001178#:~:text=It%20is%20known%20that%20minor,2003%3B%20Kim%2C%202003). Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter, thank very interesting and often underestimated! Related to this topic are 'bottle shock'/'bottle sickness' etc. Also relevant i think, if you want to answer the question: What do vibrations and unrest with a bottle of wine. Wine lovers, just look for these terms (bottle shock/bottle sickness). Cheers!
@@marcusvandenbroek8957 yes, not talked about enough. People who are non wine drinkers think you are crazy when you talk about this type of details but a wine can be affected quite a lot if it it not stored or served correctly. Cheers!
I love your videos, and find the information quite useful. My wine cooler recently died after 2.5 years and I have some decent bottles in there (second growths, aged napa cabs). What is your recommendation at the moment? It's sitting in there around 66 degrees at the moment. I am thinking of transferring it to the refrigerator until I purchase a new one. Any recommendations on brand for a new wine cooler? I am considering a wine enthusiast branded 200 bottle unit. Thanks!
Pianoman: sorry, I haven't purchased a new cooler since I bought my old one like 20 years ago. Depends on how long you are going to take to purchase your new cooler. For some nice bottles, I think if it is out of sunlight and in reasonable temperature, even a few months won't kill them...just might let them age a bit quicker. Not a big fan of putting bottles in the fridge for a few months..true the temperature will be cool so it won't age but the constant vibration will be harmful for the wine. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
don: thanks for watching my video. I don't know about specific brands but I think wine coolers/fridges are essential for a wine collector. I think the most important is the size of the fridge has to fit your collection. I know of some people who put like 150 wines in a 100 bottle fridge. That really is not ideal to cram everything in there. So buy a big enough fridge for your needs but no so big that it makes you frivalously spend because your fridge is so empty. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
My house is usually on at 75 F. After I buy a red wine from the store, I put the unopened red wine in the fridge rather than at room temperature because sometimes I drink the red wine two days later. Which is better for the wine? Fridge or room Temperature? Btw, I know that the most optimal is a wine fridge, but I haven't bought one yet.
Loininthenight: good question but my view is that if you are going to drink it in a few days, it is better to store at room temperature than in the fridge and not to move it. I would be same as if you bought it from the liquor store and pop and opened. Not sure if I went through this point in the video but I think it is better to have a wine at constant temperature (even slightly higher) than to have lots of temperature variation. I believe taking a bottle in and out of a fridge is not great for the wine. Cheers!
Tomas: I am really glad you asked this question as I have seen a lot of other people have their top wine lists. I don't have a top wine list as I think every wine is special in its own way. In my mind, there is no "best" as my taste palate is different than everyone else and what is "best" for me is not solely about the score but the lasting impression it makes on me. But I can tell you a few of my most memorable wines and why: 1966 La Violette: I got to drink 2 bottles of this wine this year. First it is special because of the vintage and 2nd, I discovered La Violette, which I was unfamiliar with. It is also taught me that you have to take chances as no one has rated this wine and you would never buy it if you looked at ratings. 2004 Lafite: this was the first 1st growth I drank this year. During the COVID years, I didn't drink many first growths and Lafite is one of my favourite wines so it was so nice to reacquant myself with this winery 2005 Leroy Pommard and 1998 Leroy Bourgogne Blanc - I discovered the beauty and longevity of Leroy wines and realized it is the quality of the producer, not the appellation status that matters. Of course there was the Screaming Eagle, Le Pin, Cheval Blanc, Latour and Mouton I drank so it is really hard to pinpoint a best experience as it is always a thrill to drink these Trophy wines. Each wine added something to my wine wisdom but too long to go through each one. On value wines, it was the ones that were out of blue surprises that stick out in my mind: wines that were not even on my radar and by chance, I stumble upon them. In this category would be Double Diamond (before #1 Wine Spectator status), Domaine de la Combe Muscadet, Ken Forester FMC and Moraine Winery Viognier. Then there are wines like the 1991 Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon which I purchased from Mr. Phelps personal cellar. The idea I was drinking a wine from his cellar and that it was still in such great condition was really memorable for me. In summary, the wines gave me the most pleasure in 2022 may not be the highest scoring wines but are what created memories for me. I am so thrilled that even after 20+ years of drinking wines I would not reasonably conceive I would be drinking when I first started wine as a hobby, I can still find wines that add to my life experience. As I get older, I realize how much I don't know and how much I still have to learn and experience. So my hope is that I will continue to find passion in the wines I drink and share this passion through my videos with viewers. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
"i don't have a top wine list." Etc. Words that appeal to me! The beauty of wine, i think, can be discovered as Tony describes it here. Lists, you only limit yourself in this discovery tour. I think that there is no best, more credible than that there would be a best! Cheers
I feel like we have had synthetic corks for over 20+ years now. We should atleast have some good data on that now. I'm curious about storage of screw top bottles since I hold a lot of German wines for 12+ yrs before drinking, and they tend to screw top.
Michael: i think the advantage of synthetic and plastic is that you have no problem with cork taint. But I am not sure how screw top and synthetic will work for 20+ years. There should be no or very little interaction with air. I don't know if I have seen any tastings of wines with synthetic corks where the vintage is more than 10 years old. As for screw tops, have you opened up any of your German wines and what is your analysis of this? Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter yes. I've opened some German Spatlese and Auslese riesling with around 12 yrs with screw cap and they were very good. No off flavors and cap seems to be okay.
Screw caps will be fine the industry is just slow to change abd traditional… that being said the largest single holding in my cellar is German Riesling and I’d say maybe 5% of them are screwcaps and those are always kabinett wines and generally represent the producers entry level offering for that particular vineyard/area
@@michaels7753 I guess screw cap would work but I am just wondering how it work with red wins like Bordeaux. I would think cork is more porous than a screw cap so that a wine that normally takes 10 years to evolve with a cork would take much longer with a screw cap. Not enough high end wines willing to take that chance of being an innovator in this field. Cheers!
@@danielplainview4778 I agree with your comment. Theoretically, it should be better but no one at the high end level is prepared to take the risk. They don't need to in an industry that is slow to change and they won't find out for many years, whether they are right or not. I have never drank a Trophy Wine with a synthetic cork or screw cap more than 10 years after the vintage so I can't comment. This is the same rationale for storage. Not that other storage temperatures/climates are necessarily wrong...we just don't have a history of data which tells us with any consistency when a wine is ready to drink at other temperatures and storage conditions. Cheers!
Such an important topic, well done !
Luca: thank you for viewing my video and taking the time to leave a comment. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
Happy New Year 🎊🎆 🍾 cheers and congratulations on the content 🍷
Dan: Best wishes to you for a healthy and safe 2023! Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
A very useful video. “Keep things constant”. That’s it.
grigorhaig: thank you for your continued support. Happy New Year!
@@TrophyWineHunter happy new year too!
Interesting video and I agree with you that purchasing good storage is money well spent. My EuroCave wine cabinet was one of my best wine-related purchases!
As someone with a chemistry background, I have a few points to add.
1- Temperature not only affects speed of chemical reactions, but also which reactions occur. Bottles stored warmer will age more quickly and also develop different flavors - usually “cooked” flavors. The extreme is, as you say, ruining a bottle in a few hours that gets too hot.
2- Temperature stability is also important bc the airspace expands with temperature. Warming and cooling a bottle can act like a piston that sucks in air through the cork and can lead to oxidation.
3- I never understood why it’s important to avoid vibration. Sure, handling a bottle can interrupt constant temp/humidty/light, but I don’t see how long term vibration affects wine negatively. It can stir up sediment right before serving, but otherwise, this advice has always been a mystery.
noahcap: thank you for your additional comments. For vibration, I think the idea is that wine needs to settle to age properly. Constant vibration is like continously stirring the wine. Here is a paper that talks about the effects of vibration on wine
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889157508001178#:~:text=It%20is%20known%20that%20minor,2003%3B%20Kim%2C%202003).
Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter Wow! Thanks for the reference. I guess it does certainly make a difference!!!
@@noahcap Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter, thank very interesting and often underestimated! Related to this topic are 'bottle shock'/'bottle sickness' etc. Also relevant i think, if you want to answer the question: What do vibrations and unrest with a bottle of wine. Wine lovers, just look for these terms (bottle shock/bottle sickness). Cheers!
@@marcusvandenbroek8957 yes, not talked about enough. People who are non wine drinkers think you are crazy when you talk about this type of details but a wine can be affected quite a lot if it it not stored or served correctly. Cheers!
I love your videos, and find the information quite useful. My wine cooler recently died after 2.5 years and I have some decent bottles in there (second growths, aged napa cabs). What is your recommendation at the moment? It's sitting in there around 66 degrees at the moment. I am thinking of transferring it to the refrigerator until I purchase a new one. Any recommendations on brand for a new wine cooler? I am considering a wine enthusiast branded 200 bottle unit. Thanks!
Pianoman: sorry, I haven't purchased a new cooler since I bought my old one like 20 years ago.
Depends on how long you are going to take to purchase your new cooler. For some nice bottles, I think if it is out of sunlight and in reasonable temperature, even a few months won't kill them...just might let them age a bit quicker. Not a big fan of putting bottles in the fridge for a few months..true the temperature will be cool so it won't age but the constant vibration will be harmful for the wine. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year to you as well
What do you think of wine coolers, such as eurocave etc? What would you suggest out of wine cooler fridges? p.s. great info! :)
don: thanks for watching my video. I don't know about specific brands but I think wine coolers/fridges are essential for a wine collector. I think the most important is the size of the fridge has to fit your collection. I know of some people who put like 150 wines in a 100 bottle fridge. That really is not ideal to cram everything in there. So buy a big enough fridge for your needs but no so big that it makes you frivalously spend because your fridge is so empty. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
My house is usually on at 75 F. After I buy a red wine from the store, I put the unopened red wine in the fridge rather than at room temperature because sometimes I drink the red wine two days later. Which is better for the wine? Fridge or room Temperature? Btw, I know that the most optimal is a wine fridge, but I haven't bought one yet.
Loininthenight: good question but my view is that if you are going to drink it in a few days, it is better to store at room temperature than in the fridge and not to move it. I would be same as if you bought it from the liquor store and pop and opened. Not sure if I went through this point in the video but I think it is better to have a wine at constant temperature (even slightly higher) than to have lots of temperature variation. I believe taking a bottle in and out of a fridge is not great for the wine. Cheers!
What was the best wines you drunk in 2022? Red, white, sweet, sparkling and affordable
Tomas: I am really glad you asked this question as I have seen a lot of other people have their top wine lists.
I don't have a top wine list as I think every wine is special in its own way. In my mind, there is no "best" as my taste palate is different than everyone else and what is "best" for me is not solely about the score but the lasting impression it makes on me.
But I can tell you a few of my most memorable wines and why:
1966 La Violette: I got to drink 2 bottles of this wine this year. First it is special because of the vintage and 2nd, I discovered La Violette, which I was unfamiliar with. It is also taught me that you have to take chances as no one has rated this wine and you would never buy it if you looked at ratings.
2004 Lafite: this was the first 1st growth I drank this year. During the COVID years, I didn't drink many first growths and Lafite is one of my favourite wines so it was so nice to reacquant myself with this winery
2005 Leroy Pommard and 1998 Leroy Bourgogne Blanc - I discovered the beauty and longevity of Leroy wines and realized it is the quality of the producer, not the appellation status that matters.
Of course there was the Screaming Eagle, Le Pin, Cheval Blanc, Latour and Mouton I drank so it is really hard to pinpoint a best experience as it is always a thrill to drink these Trophy wines. Each wine added something to my wine wisdom but too long to go through each one.
On value wines, it was the ones that were out of blue surprises that stick out in my mind: wines that were not even on my radar and by chance, I stumble upon them. In this category would be Double Diamond (before #1 Wine Spectator status), Domaine de la Combe Muscadet, Ken Forester FMC and Moraine Winery Viognier.
Then there are wines like the 1991 Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon which I purchased from Mr. Phelps personal cellar. The idea I was drinking a wine from his cellar and that it was still in such great condition was really memorable for me.
In summary, the wines gave me the most pleasure in 2022 may not be the highest scoring wines but are what created memories for me. I am so thrilled that even after 20+ years of drinking wines I would not reasonably conceive I would be drinking when I first started wine as a hobby, I can still find wines that add to my life experience. As I get older, I realize how much I don't know and how much I still have to learn and experience. So my hope is that I will continue to find passion in the wines I drink and share this passion through my videos with viewers. Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
"i don't have a top wine list." Etc. Words that appeal to me! The beauty of wine, i think, can be discovered as Tony describes it here. Lists, you only limit yourself in this discovery tour. I think that there is no best, more credible than that there would be a best! Cheers
@@marcusvandenbroek8957 thanks for your continued support. Cheers!
I feel like we have had synthetic corks for over 20+ years now. We should atleast have some good data on that now. I'm curious about storage of screw top bottles since I hold a lot of German wines for 12+ yrs before drinking, and they tend to screw top.
Michael: i think the advantage of synthetic and plastic is that you have no problem with cork taint. But I am not sure how screw top and synthetic will work for 20+ years. There should be no or very little interaction with air. I don't know if I have seen any tastings of wines with synthetic corks where the vintage is more than 10 years old.
As for screw tops, have you opened up any of your German wines and what is your analysis of this? Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter yes. I've opened some German Spatlese and Auslese riesling with around 12 yrs with screw cap and they were very good. No off flavors and cap seems to be okay.
Screw caps will be fine the industry is just slow to change abd traditional… that being said the largest single holding in my cellar is German Riesling and I’d say maybe 5% of them are screwcaps and those are always kabinett wines and generally represent the producers entry level offering for that particular vineyard/area
@@michaels7753 I guess screw cap would work but I am just wondering how it work with red wins like Bordeaux. I would think cork is more porous than a screw cap so that a wine that normally takes 10 years to evolve with a cork would take much longer with a screw cap. Not enough high end wines willing to take that chance of being an innovator in this field. Cheers!
@@danielplainview4778 I agree with your comment. Theoretically, it should be better but no one at the high end level is prepared to take the risk. They don't need to in an industry that is slow to change and they won't find out for many years, whether they are right or not.
I have never drank a Trophy Wine with a synthetic cork or screw cap more than 10 years after the vintage so I can't comment.
This is the same rationale for storage. Not that other storage temperatures/climates are necessarily wrong...we just don't have a history of data which tells us with any consistency when a wine is ready to drink at other temperatures and storage conditions. Cheers!
Best advice: don‘t touch your best wines😁👋cheers
Piff Paff: cheers!