Protecting Your Wine Investment

In Australia we produce sensational wine and we love to enjoy it. According to ABS data, in the years 2004 to 2008 we consumed on average 34 bottles of wine per person in Australia per year. If you’re buying and consuming 34 bottles of wine per year, are you caring for that wine and consuming it in the best condition possible?

When visiting your local liquor store there is a good chance that the beer you buy is consumed within a month, two maximum, yet the wine haul is likely to live in your house for months before it is selected for taking to dinner or serving at home. After the wine leaves the store you have a huge responsibility to maintain the integrity and structure of the beautiful contents.

What we know about wine is that it is a living and evolving product, it doesn’t like natural light, it really doesn’t like the heat either and when it comes to temperature consistency is important. With heat the wine expands and with the cooler temperature it contracts again, if this is happening consistently then you’re in trouble, and there is nothing worse than finally opening that bottle of wine and it’s a dud.

When you can easily spend over $100 on a bottle of wine, why are you storing it in a cupboard of your house? While it may be hidden from natural light, the temperatures during the summer at home could be very high and then much cooler at night when you come home from work etc etc.

If you’re curious about the temperatures in your current wine cupboard or storage space then purchasing a temperature logger might be a good idea. At CES in January we found a bluetooth product called Tempi which did this for around $30. If you want to skip this and take wine storage seriously though, Hisense has some very affordable options.

Based on our average consumption we’re sharing details about the 36 bottle cabinet. Priced at $699 this cabinet will regularly hold more than $699 worth of wine. As Hisense puts it; the technology is second to none. The 36-bottle wine cabinet features tripled glazed doors. Coupled with dual temperature zones, red, white and sparkling wines can all be stored simultaneously in optimal conditions. Additionally, the placement of internal wooden shelving ensures the wine bottles are stored at correct angles.

Now, it is possible to spend even more money on larger wine cabinets but it could be overkill. The key message here and something we want you to consider is caring for your wine. It’s a precious substance, the process to create the wine is long, arduous and very rewarding. There is nothing worse than a collapsed wine and we don’t want to hear of a wasted drop. Treasure your wine and enjoy it in the best condition possible.