By Subhash Arora

The single most important element of continued wine enjoyment is proper storage. High and variable temperature and oxygen are natural enemies of wine. In an ideal world you should store both your red and white wines between 12-15 degrees C at fixed humidity, in a noiseless and dark environment.

At higher temperatures, the maturation process speeds up and so does the deterioration of the wine.

My first recommendation is drink your wine soon after you buy one. More than 95% wines are made to be drunk young and aging won't improve them. If an appropriate wine cellar with the specifications I have mentioned is not feasible, keeping the bottles horizontally in a quiet and cooler corner of the house is a short-term practical solution.

Most wine writers do not recommend storing wine in a refrigerator because the temperature inside is very low and the wine will not evolve. The smell of other contents may also permeate inside and the cork may dry up faster. But I believe a fridge is the least of all evils, especially if you don't have a proper wine cooler. I often recommend the use of an old fridge that is tired and the cooling is not effective any longer. Vibrations generated by the compressor kicking in may not be good for wine, but low-to-mid range wines won't get hurt badly for a few weeks or months. Remember, till about 22 degrees C, the wine may be bruised a little. Beyond this the damage is faster, especially over 25 degrees C.

An example is the Mumplin Roero Arneis from Casetta that I recommended only last week. It's a delicious example of a light, fruity and crisp wine made from a unique Italian grape. The 2003 vintage had really gone bad and was completely off when we opened the bottles for our Wine & World Cup evening at the Hyatt Regency this past Saturday. Not only had it lost its freshness, it was oxidised and undrinkable.

In human parlance, it was 'dead' because of poor handling, somewhere in the storage chain. Drinking wine like that could put you off the drink for no fault of the wine's or the producer's, or mine, for recommending it!