When you’re a lover of wine, there’s nothing worse than opening a bottle that’s been sitting in the cupboard and finding that it just doesn’t taste like it should. Unfortunately there are many factors that can contribute to just how well a bottle ages, so if you don’t store your reds and whites in the right way, you may find yourself pouring more down the drain than you can possibly bear.

If you’ve started to build your own wine collection to ensure you have bottles on hand when you fancy a glass, it’s important to understand how you should be storing it for optimum results when it’s time for consumption.

As well as considering the position that you keep your bottles in to avoid tainting your wine, the temperature needs to be just right, especially when you are wanting to keep it for a long period of time. While you may think that keeping it in the fridge will solve this problem, it’s only a temporary solution that can be used for wine you want to drink relatively quickly. Another factor that can spoil wine is exposure to light, so it’s a good idea to keep it in dark rooms where there is little or no sunlight. And, surprisingly enough, any regular movement such as vibrations from a washing machine can cause your wine to age much sooner than it should.

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to storing wine correctly, so take a look at this infographic to get an idea of how you can preserve your collection as best as you can. One suggestion that can save you a lot of trouble when figuring out room temperatures and lighting conditions is investing in a wine cellar equipped with an anti-vibration compressor system and temperature control. Hopefully after discovering more about how to keep your wine in tip top condition, you won’t have to have that awful feeling of tipping your wine out again.