How Red Wine is Made & Proper Storage

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Grapes are picked.

The grapes are crushed, destemmed and the juice is extracted.  In the case of red wine, the skins are part of the must as well.

The juice is placed in a primary fermenter and allowed to ferment for some time.

The wine is then transferred to another container where it undergoes seconday fermentation.

The wine is then transferred to bottles.

Properly Storing Red Wine

Wine should be stored in a dark, dry place. 

The temperature should be around 10 degrees celcius (50 degrees farenheight) 

Wine should be laid on its side so the cork does not dry out. 

Another important consideration is odors.  Avoid storing wine in an area that contains unpleasant odors such as old tires, gasoline, or for that matter any other unpleasant odor.  Some of these particles are small enough to penetrate and contaminate the wine.  It may be consumable but the taste will be ruined. 

Obviously you would want to avoid any excessive vibration that might disturb the wine; especially with wines that have sediment. 

Now you have the basics for your own wine cellar. 

Wine cellars can be very basic or very high tech and fancy.  Nevertheless either must incorporate these basic elements or they would not be a good wine cellar.  I have come across many people with very fancy wine cellars who knew very little about wine and on the other hand, I have met the people with the most modest of wine cellars that were extremely knowledgable. 

In conclusion, you don't have to get too caught up with your wine cellar you just need to be aware of these basic ideas.