Cork defects are for the garbage can. Have I already mentioned that? Annoyed by some bottles spoiled by cork faults (TCA), I wrote the other day that there are no longer any technical reasons for using a cork as a wine closure. As I've mentioned several times before, in addition to the risk of cork failure, i.e., contamination of the wine with TCA, natural corks also have the disadvantage that their oxygen transmission rate (OTR) can vary over several powers of ten. In fact, the nano- or micro-oxidation associated with low OTR, which benefits the few wines that require long [...]

25° in the shade is usually the ideal average for us humans, at which we feel comfortable. But if you leave your wine to these temperatures, it will have very little joy and you will have even less later. Above all, wine storage temperatures that are too high but also fluctuate greatly can have a strong negative effect on the wine, if not even ruin it. Other negative influences are too low humidity and odor emissions. From our experience, we can state that the storage conditions for wine in residential buildings are very rarely optimal. Photo by Biljana Martinić [...]

Champagne and good sparkling wine are stored protected from light at a constant temperature, preferably close to 12°C. If you think that you can store champagne in your cellar without any problems, you are mistaken - and really mistaken. Champagne is one of the most light- and heat-sensitive beverages there is (along with milk, freshly squeezed juices and white wine). Therefore, special attention must be paid to its storage. This means that champagne should be stored protected from light in a dark room at 12° - under the very conditions that prevail in our wine storage cellars. Of course, for [...]