8 Optimum air quality
Classic natural corks very adequately keep the wine in
the bottle, but in no way do they hermetically seal it. As a
result, air, which is rarely completely odourless, infiltrates
the bottle passing down the edges of the cork. If the bottles
are stored in a cardboard box, the wine can take on the
odour of the cardboard. But food odours in particular
present problems. When storing wine at home, especially
in a kitchen environment, wines will almost certainly lose
their »terroir and type« characteristics – i.e. they will spoil!
Although glass stoppers and screw caps provide airtight
closures for bottles, wines inevitably age more slowly
because only the oxygen in the bottle is available to them.
Synthetic corks allow too much air into the bottle, making
them much less suitable for long-term storage of wine
altogether.
Optimum
air quality.
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The quality of the ambient air is
essential if the wine is to develop
fully and be enhanced during storage
– any airborne contaminants can be
transferred to the wine and spoil it.