Hi All,

Hoping some of you can PLEASE give some advice on the above....

.... basically I get married next June and am considering doing a Booze Cruise to France to stock up on sparkling wine, red and white wines for the Reception. The thing is that I live up North and normally paying for petrol down to Dover, overnight hotel etc would eat up any savings we made. However, we are in Brighton in August of this year on holiday, and if we went across to France then, we could limit the costs we would have to pay and save on the wine etc. The question is, should we store wine for this long (wedding is next June) ...... or would it go off/lose its fizz ??

Hi Bizzy Lizzy, congratulations on a June wedding, lucky you!

Wine will keep for at least a year if kept at a steady cool temperature and not likely to get too hot, so avoid places like a shed or the loft of a house as these can get very hot in the summer.

Modern white wines wines will keep for a minimum of a year. Champagne is no problem for several years, I am of course talking non-vintage, a vintage champagne will keep for year. Reds are fine for the same time and certain reds like Chateauneuf du Pape will again keep for years. Think about a Beaujolais as a possible red, you can serve it chilled, if the June weather behaves and I think that chilled it is better than Rose. Rose wines are best drunk young, but if you get one with a 12.5 - 13% a/c you should be fine.

Taste as much as you can and buy by the case and then keep them sealed.

Final tip, if you see a champagne by J. Dumangin Fils a Chigny-les-Roses buy it! Oh, and buy champagne in Magnums, it is easier to manage for large numbers and you get the best flavour. Don't know why, but extensive personal testing has proved this to be true.

Bon Chance!

David

Hi David,

Thanks SO MUCH for your help and advice, I am afraid the world of wine is a mystery to me, so your help is much appreciated!

We have actually seen a nice Pinot Griogio which is on offer at the moment, in a shop in the UK, and as this is a wine which we often drink ourselves, are thinking of purchasing this now (as it works out about the same price per bottle as the ones we have seen in France). Do you think this would be suitable to be stored until next June - we were thinking of our garage, as its concrete (and dark!) and hopefully won't get too hot. Plus the tops are screw caps, so there is no chance the wine would get corked?

Also, does the same apply for storage of sparkly wine as champagne? i.e. it will not lose it's fizz (we were thinking of the Lindauer Rose as we both like this particular one ....?)

Many thanks

Hi Bizzy Lizzy,

Pinot Grigio is a good choice as it is aromatic (Spicy) and therefore goes well with most foods. Storage in a garage is fine, but make sure it is not allowed to get too hot, if Summer finally arrives. Also, if it has a tendency to be damp, watch for mould forming on the boxes. If it is very dry, a little water sprinkled in the vicinity of the boxes once a week is a good way to keep a little moisture in the air. Screw top caps are fine for 12 months or so. Remember to make sure the bottles are stored standing on their bases. As opposed to cork bottles which should be stored on their sides, to keep the corks moist. This is how your should store sparkling wines, and rest assured it will not loose it's fizz in 12 months.

Final tip, try to avoid stacking boxes of wine higher than 2. This is because the boxes can start to weaken, if they get damp, and you may go in one day to find broken bottles on the floor. It happen to me when we first started to use a very old cellar and stored some boxes of wine. Let vigilance and ventilation be your watchword!

Hope that helps.

David

Hi David,

Thanks so much for your help and advice (again!).

We went ahead and ordered the Pinot Grigio last night, so that should be winging it's way to us in the next few days. We actually have a tiny cupboard under the stairs (where the meters live!) and we are thinking of storing it in there. It's cool, well ventilated (bare floorboards) and dark, and hopefully should not get as damp as the garage might......

...... next on our "hitlist" is the red - and thanks for your suggestion about the Beaujolais. I am not much of a red wine drinker myself (and as we will be having chicken at the wedding breakfast) want something light and fresh, so we will give some Beaujolai's a whirl....

Thanks once again for your help.