Always lay bottles on their side

Bottles should be stored horizontally to ensure the cork remains moist. Corks may dry out if a bottle is left standing upright, which over time may even shrink the cork, allowing the ingress of air and resulting oxidation of the wine. Screw-capped bottles are more resilient, but it’s best to have these bottles lying down as well so that if a bottle is damaged you will identify leakage earlier. If wine is stored in racks, it is wise to face the labels up so the whereabouts of the sediment is obvious. This is advantageous when decanting the wine.

How long will a wine improve in the bottle?

It is difficult to predict when a wine will be at its best. Do you enjoy a wine with the vibrancy of youth or the more mellow complexities of a fully mature wine? Is your preference for a red wine with predominant primary fruit characters, or for a more mature expression, with nuances of coffee, cedar, tobacco and other secondary characters?

It is very much a case of individual preference and will depend upon the style and vintage of the wine in question. It is important to remember that smaller format bottles will mature more rapidly than standard bottles or magnums, as the ratio of air in the ullage space to the volume of wine is higher.