Tropical Port Storage

[mannye]

Ignoring the fact that most retail purchases I make down here will have a high chance of being improperly handled at the store, once I get it home there's no chance of proper storage for any length of time beyond a wine fridge. Which are the brands I should be looking at to assure a long life at my high temps and humidity? The house is air conditioned 24/7 with a backup generator for the refrigeration units in case of hurricanes, but it still gets up to 85F (30C I guess?) often.

I'm looking at a small unit with 50 bottle capacity in order to store some bottles for a few years... it gets expensive buying ready to drink!

[g-man]

Ignoring the fact that most retail purchases I make down here will have a high chance of being improperly handled at the store, once I get it home there's no chance of proper storage for any length of time beyond a wine fridge. Which are the brands I should be looking at to assure a long life at my high temps and humidity? The house is air conditioned 24/7 with a backup generator for the refrigeration units in case of hurricanes, but it still gets up to 85F (30C I guess?) often.

I'm looking at a small unit with 50 bottle capacity in order to store some bottles for a few years... it gets expensive buying ready to drink!

i hate to say it, but none

a fellow tpf'er just opened a taylor 1970 with me and it tasted like it went through heat dmg and it has been stored properly since he acquired it.

[port unfortunately is more wine then something that has been purposely cooked

your best bet is the fridge, or give madeira a shot and see if you like it.

madeira will last forever in any temperature.

[jdaw1]

You might wish to read Port storage advice needed.

[DRT]

I'm looking at a small unit with 50 bottle capacity in order to store some bottles for a few years... it gets expensive buying ready to drink!

I have three Frigidaire wine coolers with a combined capacity of 250 bottles. They cost between £200-£350 each (being different sizes) and I have never had an issue with bottles being spoiled as a result of living in them for a few years. I bought the first one ten years ago.

You can buy expensive coolers or cheap coolers. My view is that cheap ones will do if they live in a relatively stable environment and the bottles inside them are there for drinking within a ew years. Expensive coolers are worth the investment for long-term storage and for coping with what is going on outside them in terms of seasonal or daily temperature fluctuation.

If you want long term storage it is cheaper to find a good wine merchant with professional storage facilities.

Derek

[Glenn E.]

You can buy expensive coolers or cheap coolers. My view is that cheap ones will do if they live in a relatively stable environment and the bottles inside them are there for drinking within a ew years. Expensive coolers are worth the investment for long-term storage and for coping with what is going on outside them in terms of seasonal or daily temperature fluctuation.

+1

If you want long term storage it is cheaper to find a good wine merchant with professional storage facilities.

This will vary greatly depending on your location. As near as I can work out, here in the Seattle area it is actually less expensive per bottle to purchase high-end wine refrigerators (mine is a Eurocave) than to rent professional storage for 10 years. And if my Eurocave lasts longer than 10 years, which I fully expect it to do, it will be even less expensive.

My low-end wine fridge isn't for long-term storage, as it doesn't do a very good job of insulating the wine from the vibrations caused by the cooling unit. It isn't enough to actually disturb (or prevent) sediment, but I can feel it with my hand so I prefer to err on the side of caution.

[g-man]

OP says he's got a backup generator and even then does't work well so temps go up really high

is a fridge really goign to make a difference?

[DRT]

My definition of "long-term" is measured in decades rather than years

[DRT]

OP says he's got a backup generator and even then does't work well so temps go up really high

is a fridge really goign to make a difference?

Yes.

[g-man]

OP says he's got a backup generator and even then does't work well so temps go up really high

is a fridge really goign to make a difference?

Yes.

and what's goign to power this fridge?

[DRT]

OP says he's got a backup generator and even then does't work well so temps go up really high

is a fridge really goign to make a difference?

Yes.

and what's goign to power this fridge?

with a backup generator for the refrigeration units in case of hurricanes

How many hours out of a decade is the generator in use? And how hot is it when your house is under a hurricane?

If a hurricane hits your house the state of 50 bottles of Port is the least of your worries. For the other 3652 days per decade the fridge will do its job.

[g-man]

OP says he's got a backup generator and even then does't work well so temps go up really high

is a fridge really goign to make a difference?

Yes.

and what's goign to power this fridge?

with a backup generator for the refrigeration units in case of hurricanes

How many hours out of a decade is the generator in use? And how hot is it when your house is under a hurricane?

If a hurricane hits your house the state of 50 bottles of Port is the least of your worries. For the other 3652 days per decade the fridge will do its job.

certainly, I live in new york and I've used my generator 3 times this past year and basically 14 days non stop when tropical storm sandy came knocking buy. granted temperatures in NY were a chilly 48 F.

Not knowing where OPs tropical storm may be, you could be right or you could be wrong.

He did state that even with the backup generator house temperatures get up to 85. A small cheap wine fridge maintains temperature for about 2-3 hrs (depending how full it is though) before it hits ambient temperatures without powering the compressor.

[Glenn E.]

My definition of "long-term" is measured in decades rather than years

My figures only need a single decade for my Eurocave to be less expensive than Seattle-area storage options. If it lasts for many decades, so much the better.

Yet another reason that it is better to be a Port lover in England than in the US.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[RonnieRoots]

Having lived in tropical conditions for the past 5 years, my experience is that a wine fridge is the best option to keep your bottles at your preferred temperature. We have to deal with power outages from time to time, and temperatures in the house can creep up to very unpleasant levels when this happens. I found that the wines in the fridge aren't harmed to much by this. The mass of the bottles make sure that the temperature of the liquid only rises very gradually and not by too much.

Your biggest problem is buying bottles from a trusted source. If your bottles are already heat damaged when you buy them, no fridge will save them. We had this so many times here, that I stopped buying expensive bottles locally unless I am completely sure of their history (which basically means I buy nothing except bottles that have been brought in by plane with a visiting winemaker... unfortunately that doesn't happen often).

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Glenn E.]

certainly, I live in new york and I've used my generator 3 times this past year and basically 14 days non stop when tropical storm sandy came knocking buy. granted temperatures in NY were a chilly 48 F.

Good grief you need a better power company! You've needed a power generator 3 times in the last year???

I live in an area that was once renowned for power outages because it was a semi-rural part of the Seattle suburbs. Virtually everyone on the plateau owned a generator and used them several times a year. We have had a few power outages in 16 years, but only one that lasted more than an hour or so. That one lasted about 30 hours for us as I recall (and as much as 3.5 days for others), but thankfully occurred at a time when a working fireplace was a bigger concern than keeping the contents of the fridges cool.

That was when I learned about thermoelectric switches. Cool technology.

[g-man]

certainly, I live in new york and I've used my generator 3 times this past year and basically 14 days non stop when tropical storm sandy came knocking buy. granted temperatures in NY were a chilly 48 F.

Good grief you need a better power company! You've needed a power generator 3 times in the last year???

I live in an area that was once renowned for power outages because it was a semi-rural part of the Seattle suburbs. Virtually everyone on the plateau owned a generator and used them several times a year. We have had a few power outages in 16 years, but only one that lasted more than an hour or so. That one lasted about 30 hours for us as I recall (and as much as 3.5 days for others), but thankfully occurred at a time when a working fireplace was a bigger concern than keeping the contents of the fridges cool.

That was when I learned about thermoelectric switches. Cool technology.

yes, there's a big stink over LIPA (my power co)

and the reason why i bought a solar generator + propane generator + an array of battery packs. And it seriously cut into my port budget.

[mannye]

Thank you very much for the insight!

As I am writing this, my three central air conditioners are barely keeping up with the 95F heat and over 80% humidity on Miami Beach. They pretty much switch on in May and work 24/7 until mid December to keep my house from feeling like a jungle.

In beer brewing, (homebrew) the only way I can overcome this climate is to have freezers with external temperature controls to keep everything in the 40F to 50F range. Same with aging at slightly higher temps. I don't think this would work for wine however as the freezers vibrate and don't regulate humidity.

It may just come down to spending money on getting and drinking wine quickly rather than spending thousands on creating and maintaining an artificial environment. I already spend enough on not getting trenchfoot in my own house.

[g-man]

Thank you very much for the insight!

As I am writing this, my three central air conditioners are barely keeping up with the 95F heat and over 80% humidity on Miami Beach. They pretty much switch on in May and work 24/7 until mid December to keep my house from feeling like a jungle.

In beer brewing, (homebrew) the only way I can overcome this climate is to have freezers with external temperature controls to keep everything in the 40F to 50F range. Same with aging at slightly higher temps. I don't think this would work for wine however as the freezers vibrate and don't regulate humidity.

It may just come down to spending money on getting and drinking wine quickly rather than spending thousands on creating and maintaining an artificial environment. I already spend enough on not getting trenchfoot in my own house.

actually i store my wines around 47-52 degrees.

The vibration thing though, I dont know

[mannye]

I think I'll go get some cheap port right now and see what's what.

[DRT]

find a good wine merchant with professional storage facilities.

It sounds to me that you would have to spend a small fortune to keep wine at home. Why not give something like this a try? http://xtrastoragecompaniesfl.com/miami ... -guide.php

[Alex Bridgeman]

Wine fridges are great. My first wine fridge lasted about 16 years before needing to be replaced. I replaced it with one about the same size - 200 bottles or so.

I strongly recommend that you don't buy a wine fridge that only holds 50 bottles. Experience says that you will run out of space much too quickly. With the ability to store at home it becomes very easy to order a case or two when you see a bargain from a reputable wine merchant in a cool climate...

With a large wine fridge you can buy and ship during the winter when the wine is less likely to be exposed during transport to damaging extreme temperatures and store for a decade or two if necessary. If you filled a 200 bottles fridge with the 2011 vintage you could drink a bottle a month for 16 years before you ran out. Put a mixed range of port (white, tawny, LBV and VP) in there from 1970-2011 and you could have a real wide choice of what to drink each month.

The issue with power outages is not too much of a problem where they are relatively short. I suffered a power outage at home of around 2 weeks a couple of summers ago (British summer, so temperatures were only mid-70s) and kept the contents of the wine cabinet cool with ice blocks and bags of ice bought from the supermarket.

Off site storage would also seem a very sensible option but you'd need to have complete confidence in the company running the site - their financial viability, the honesty of the firm's employees and directors, their ability to keep things going during bad weather etc.

Personally, I have a combination of off-site storage and a wine cabinet at home. The wine cabinet is for stuff I intend to drink over the next 2-3 years and the offsite storage for longer term storage and maturation.