Wine Storage at U-Haul Facilities
How to Store Wine in Self-Storage
If you are running out of space in your wine cellar at home or have no room for one at your residence, consider storing your wine collection in one of our professionally managed wine storage lockers. At U-Haul, we understand that storing your wine properly is important to maintaining its characteristics over time. Incorrect storage can damage the taste, color and scent of your wine. That’s why we take great care to ensure your wine is safe, cool and accessible when an occasion comes around.
Wine Storage Tips
Wondering what’s the proper way to store wine? Renting a U-Haul wine storage locker is a great start, but there’s more to it than that. Follow these five storage tips to ensure your wine is stored correctly.
1. Keep the Light Out
Always store your wine in a dark location away from direct sunlight or interior lighting. The reason being bright light shining on the bottle often leads to quicker oxidation, which is a process that ages wine prematurely and permanently alters the quality.
2. Look for Low Temperatures
Like direct light, warm temperatures can lead to premature oxidation in wine. In addition to a dark location, be sure to store your wine in a place that’s 55° F or cooler so your wine ages to perfection while in storage. Climate control is a must in this case.
3. Avoid High Humidity
Humidity and moisture in general also have an effect on wine’s quality over time. In particular, humidity can cause the cork to dry out and crumble, and eventually lead to oxygen making its way into the bottle which serves as a catalyst for early aging.
4. Keep Your Wine Still
Wine keeps best when it’s not shaken up or moved around too much, which is why it’s best to keep your bottles as still as possible while in storage. Use a wine rack or specialty wine storage box to keep your bottles secure and motionless while in storage.
5. Lay the Bottle on its Side
There's a reason wine racks store bottles on their sides instead of standing upright. It's to keep the cork from drying out, and as mentioned previously, a dried-out cork will crumble over time and eventually allow oxygen to seep into the bottle (which also leads to premature oxidation).
Why Choose U-Haul for Wine Storage?
Our wine lockers are located in isolated areas of our storage facilities, with its own climate control to ensure the right temperature and humidity. Doing so ensures that the temperature is maintained at 55° degrees and humidity remains at 70% year round. These units are dark and far away from other odors or vibrations. Setting the right environment is important in preserving and protecting your wine collection.
- Climate Controlled: Lockers are kept at a consistent 55° F to prevent your wine from freezing or spoiling year round.
- Separate Space: Wine storage is isolated from the rest of the storage units to keep out odors and minimize vibrations.
- Access: Wine storage units are generally available in 24 hour access buildings, giving you access when you need it.
- Boxes: Wine shipping kits and cell kits are available to help keep your wine stationary while in storage.
Ready to get your wine collection safely stored in a cool, dark and vibration-free location? Find a U-Haul storage location near you today. Be sure to select “wine storage” when you search so your results are tailored to your needs.