Effect of the hottest temperature and humidity on

The influence of "temperature" and "humidity" on wine storage

studying this topic, I encountered a problem: few people understand the science of wine aging. No one is really exposed to all kinds of environmental changes - the role of temperature, humidity, light and vibration in the aging process of wine. It takes years or even decades for high-quality red wine to age, which is too long for scientific experiments. If a scientist studies this problem, he makes this experiment at the beginning of his research career and can't write the experimental report until he retires. High quality red wine is expensive. To do experiments, you first have to have a lot of valuable wine. Thirdly, red wine is divided into different types. Researchers score points, but they also use other types of selected samples as electrical insulation products. Such experiments cost too much

as a result, we can guess what conditions are needed for aging, but we lack specific data support. Everyone likes to use the old-fashioned underground cellar to age. The underground wine cellar is around 10 degrees for a long time, dark and humid, without vibration. No matter how long you want to store, this is the ideal environment. This is the gold standard for wine storage, which is how high-quality wine is stored

however, in the process of commercialization, connoisseurs are eager to know what impact each detail will have on wine. The cost of fixing the warehouse temperature at 10 ℃ is much higher than that at 16 ℃. Does the temperature change affect the quality of wine? What are the adverse effects of high temperature and constant temperature cellars? Does humidity have an important effect on aging? There seems to be an unwritten rule - warehouses should be as wet as wine cellars. Due to the lack of experimental data, the best way to solve this problem is to combine practical experience, scientific rules and our relatively limited chemical knowledge of wine aging

of course, the aging system can arbitrarily detect 6 points of data. After all, wine with a time of more than two years is a minority. Most wines stay in the warehouse for a short time. The warehouse is only one stop in the whole supply chain. The shorter the better. Here is a question - should we pay attention to the aging environment for short-term storage of wine? To what extent should we pay attention? Looking at the storage conditions of big brands, you often feel terrible. A current affairs commentator once said that in order to save the cost of the circulation chain, all kinds of dilapidated sheds were used as warehouses, and warehouses were not on the agenda. You can imagine how big the temperature difference in such a warehouse will change. High temperature and low temperature will damage the quality of wine. Large warehouses need a wine guide to tell people what storage conditions can ensure that young wine does not deteriorate, can be safely stored, and can safely deliver wine to customers. Due to the lack of support of scientific research data, the following is our guess

temperature

everyone agrees that temperature is a key element for aged wine. Few wines go bad due to excessive drying and exposure, but it is not uncommon for wines to be destroyed by excessive temperature or temperature fluctuations. We don't know what temperature the wine will go bad, but we know that the higher the temperature is, the more active the chemical reaction is. There is no linear relationship between the two. Doubling the temperature does not mean doubling the activity of the chemical reaction. Here is a simple and practical calculation method. For every ten degrees of temperature rise, the activity of chemical reaction will double

but this method does not mean that there are the same parameters between the aging speed and temperature of wine. If the relationship between the two is so simple, we can promote the aging of high-quality wine by raising the temperature, and we can drink good wine in advance

another effect of temperature is change. Some wines have short-term changes, changes within a day, and some wines will have long-term changes, such as seasonal changes. Temperature change is even more fatal to wine with a long age, because the cork of old wine has loosened. Wine has the principle of heat expansion and cold contraction. When the temperature rises, the wine expands and the loss rate decreases; When the temperature decreases, the wine decreases and the wastage rate increases. If the cork is in a completely closed state, the change is relatively small, but the cork is usually not completely closed, and oxygen also leaks in as the gas goes in and out

oxygen permeability is an important index during wine aging, which refers to partial oxidation. (now this is a controversial topic.) Current research has clearly shown that a very low but measurable oxygen permeability is necessary for red wine to age successfully. (this refers to the extremely low oxygen permeability. Breathing through corks is simply 'nonsense'). It should be pointed out that neither metal packaging box, plastic packaging box nor paraffin packaging box can prevent the occurrence of oxygen permeability. With the passage of time, the cork gradually lost its previous elasticity. Although there is no data to show this, the cork is indeed loose. Due to the change of temperature, the air pressure in the wine bottle changes, and a large amount of gas enters the wine bottle. The excessive amount of oxygen entering the wine bottle may endanger the quality of wine

this has led to another topic - the level of depletion, which many people believe is a credible indicator of the past history and state of high-quality wine. Compared with the high loss level, the low loss level indicates that more substances enter and leave the bottle, and also shows the quality of cork and the temperature changes experienced by wine

here is another question. The sealing property of the screw cap is relatively good. Is the screw cork insensitive to temperature changes? Some people think the answer is yes, but this has not been confirmed

there is a secret in the wine trade. The temperature during transportation may not be constant 10 degrees, and some wines deteriorate due to temperature changes during supply. Of course, this part of information is difficult to disclose to consumers

problems encountered in real life

is the aging track of high-quality wine different under the environment of 11 degrees, 15 degrees and 18 degrees? Which of the higher constant temperature (16 degrees) is more conducive to wine aging than the seasonally varying temperature (e.g. 10 to 16 degrees)? What is the effect of short-term high temperature (such as 30 ℃ for two weeks) on wine? What impact does the existing supply chain have on young commercial wine? Does temperature change have little effect on cork wine

can humid environment really prolong the life of cork

last week, I went to a wine shop in central London. It was very hot in May. God knows how high the temperature will be in midsummer. The salesmen kept fanning. Because the product was too long, if people felt hot, the temperature would be too high for wine. Consumers had better not put wine in a closed environment such as a secret room or under stairs, especially in hot summer

humidity

why is humidity important? As discussed above, the cork loses its elasticity when it dries. When the wine is placed horizontally, it means that the wine should contact the cork. People like to keep wine in a humid environment to prevent the other end of the cork from drying out. But too wet will damage the packaging and trademark. If your wine cellar is for your own consumption, if you don't always touch the wine label, you can make your wine cellar moist, which is good for cork. If the commercial warehouses are so wet, customers will complain, especially the high-quality wines sold to the United States and Far East markets. Most collectors hope that the wine label is intact

interestingly, the preservation of wine labels has a special significance for famous wine brokers, who increasingly rely on digital pictures of wine bottles to sell wine. Customers can see the consumption of wine and the appearance of wine label from the picture, which can enhance the credibility

wine storage

how do various commercial warehouses and cellars control the environment? Do you always think that the temperature of the bonded warehouse has been controlled at 10 degrees, which is as constant as the temperature of the classical cellar? Then you have to be surprised when I tell you the actual situation

jeremy of londoncitybond company (LCB company for short)? Pearson said, "storage companies always claim that they are temperature controlled warehouses, but in fact, this does not exist at all. They just rely on the structure of buildings to maintain the temperature." The reason is simple: for a large warehouse, maintaining a low temperature of 10 degrees is too expensive. Pearson said, "the temperature in our warehouse changes seasonally, sometimes six degrees."

londoncitybond company (hereinafter referred to as LCB company) has a total of 21 warehouses, including three large warehouses in London, respectively in barking, Silvertown and Tilbury. The largest warehouse is 420000 square feet. Barking and Tilbury's warehouses are completely refrigerated and insulated. There are also refrigeration equipment in the warehouse. Pearson said, "we can control the temperature at will, but the cost is too large for the wine business to afford such a high cost." The highest temperature in Tilbury warehouse in summer is 16 degrees. Goods requiring long-term storage are usually stored in the vinoteque warehouse of LCB company, which was bought from lay Wheeler company a year ago. The warehouse is built in a grain warehouse. This is the most constant temperature in all warehouses of LCB company, and the temperature has only a small seasonal change

Pearson pointed out that the daytime change of wine seems to be no problem, because the wine packaging has the impact of shock absorption and cushioning. "We have sensors in our cartons and wooden boxes, and we found that it took a lot of effort to change the temperature."

Octavian is the most famous warehouse in the wine trade. It is the underground warehouse of the British Ministry of defense, which was used to store and manufacture weapons in the past. Because it is located 90 feet underground, the temperature here is constant and stays at 13 degrees all year round. The problem is the high humidity here: This is a paradise for unmarked wine, but it is not good for branded wine. The wine label decays very quickly in high humidity environment. Jeff from Octavian? Stanley said, "we spent a lot of money to adjust the temperature and humidity. We have a computer monitoring system to monitor the temperature and humidity. Underground and aboveground warehouses rely on this system." He explained that if the underground temperature and humidity parameters need to be adjusted and the ground conditions are normal, air exchange will be carried out. Stanley believes that the UK will expand the quality wine cellar market in the next few years. "More and more people invest in wine, and we expect this market to be large."

source: Chinese wine information