I have received a lot of email lately in regards to the proper angle in which a wine bottle should be stored. Well I think that we all know by now that a bottle should NEVER be stored standing vertically but now the discussion leads to the proper angle of storage.
After visiting a lot of websites I have discovered that a few people are suggesting that people should store their wine at a slight downward angle to ensure that the cork stays wet. In fact many wine racks are built in this manner. Now I am not going to say that these people are wrong or that there is anything wrong with this design idea, but I would like everyone who stays awake at night noodling over this very topic to take the question down into their own cellar and just see what is going on.
Simply remove the foil from the top of one of your bottles and place it back into your rack. If you have a rack that stores wine flat on its side notice the area where the wine meets the cork. Is the cork fully immersed in the wine? If the answer is yes then that is that. If the answer is no then perhaps someone has been sneaking down into your cellar at night and taking sips out of you prized wine bottles!
Now this question naturally evolves into another. What happens over time with wine that is stored at a slight downward angle? I am no physicist but does this add undue pressure to the cork and overtime will wine begin to seep out? I doubt it but any insight into this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Drink Well,
Christian Hancock
Wine Cellar Specialist
Wine Racks America