What are the right conditions for a good bottle cellar ? Every enthusiast of great wines has asked himself this question at some stage. After all, those great bottles in the cellar will age according to his decisions and under his responsibility. But a good bottle cellar is above all a pleasure in itself. It should therefore be a place where you can enjoy contemplating your bottles, examining them with the tips of your fingers, then choosing them one by one, before carefully taking them up to decant. A good cellar is of course a place where wine is happy to be. Our wines like to be laid down in the same sober, peaceful and friendly atmosphere that they enjoyed during the first two years of their lives. They are not happy with extremes and brutal changes, anything that disturbs or shocks.

The temperature of the cellar is an essential parameter: fluctuations are beneficial as long as they are gentle and moderate. Cold weather in winter does not really disturb the bottles above 10°C (50°F) ; neither does hot weather in summer, if the temperature does not go over 18° (64°F) for too long. It has often been said that an average temperature of 14° (57°F) is 'ideal' ; nothing proves that this should be constant, but if there is variation, it should be slow without sudden swings.

Dampness often poses more problems. First of all, it is not easy to measure it; and then it is often disturbed by air conditioning. Humidity must be sufficiently high to prevent corks from drying out and consequently causing the wine to evaporate; but if it is too high, the labels will deteriorate. A relative humidity of around 75/80% constitutes a generally satisfactory compromise.

As for the rest, our wines are just like us; they age better and longer in a peaceful, calm atmosphere; they dislike being moved, are sensitive to noise and vibrations, and prefer to be free of draughts. They possess, however, a hidden strength to cope gracefully with all those hazards in our lives; their fate is an example.