In this article, we gave you our tips for setting up a good organic wine cellar. As epicureans that you are, you followed our advice to the letter, but now you no longer have enough space to store your fine bottles of organic wine. We invite you to discover 4 eco-friendly solutions to store your bottles in the best possible conditions. Let's go!
Wine storage: when it's better to have a larger one elsewhere than a small one at home
You know storage lockers? Discover wine storage lockers: a solution for all those who wish to age their most precious vintage wines without having a large aging cabinet or an underground wine cellar.
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These wine storage specialists offer the best storage guarantees. Adequate humidity, ideal temperature, absence of light and vibrations, not to mention security: these new-generation cellars are true cocoons for your bottles of Romanée-Conti, Petrus and your Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
BLOCK_PRODUCT:le-chateauneuf-du-pape
Mainly located in major French cities, and particularly in Paris, they are called La Cave (Paris, Lyon), Les Crayères des Montquartiers (Issy-les-Moulineaux) or iCave. However, beware: they do not all offer the same levels of security and storage conditions. No air conditioning system at Les Crayères, for example: this former chalk quarry and Paris mushroom farm naturally offers optimal storage conditions. Great, isn't it?
Eco-friendly wine cellars rewarded at the Lépine competition: do they exist?
In France, it is well known that we may not have oil, but we have wine and ideas! And since we are rather proud, we do not hesitate to present an invention that is not only Made in France, but above all ecological and recyclable: Argicru.
Argicru is a bottle rack made from raw clay, shaped over 5 months by the company Josse in Plancoët.
This rack has very surprising wine preservation properties, tested and approved by Pôle Cristal, a testing center specializing in refrigeration and climate engineering.
You are probably thinking, “But how can a clay rack protect my wine from thermal shocks?”. The answer lies in the clay: the clay's nano-structure changes depending on the ambient temperature. Also, when the ambient temperature rises, the air inside the clay evaporates and is cooled inside the rack. And when the temperature drops, the opposite happens. The humidity is therefore naturally and perpetually regulated.
This infinitely modular system allows the storage of several hundred bottles. Do not forget your friend moderation for tasting them, they are always welcome!
Peltier effect wine coolers: a French invention
Contrary to what one might think, not all wine coolers are harmful to the environment. And yes, not all refrigerators and wine coolers use a compressor and therefore refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) or CFCs. Gases whose use the European Union has committed to reducing by 80% by 2030 while promoting greener alternatives.
Among these alternatives, there is an innovative, French, economical, and ecological cooling technology: Peltier effect cooling, also known as “thermoelectric cooling”.
This cooling technology, which equips more and more small wine coolers, uses a principle discovered in 1834 by Jean-Charles Peltier, a former clockmaker who later became a physicist. As you can see, there is no age limit for following your dreams!
The Peltier effect, or thermoelectric effect, is the movement of energy in the form of heat induced by the presence of an electric current.
Thus, wine coolers with a Peltier module offer many advantages compared to coolers equipped with a compressor: they are much quieter, less energy-intensive and, naturally, more eco-friendly. The only downside: Peltier modules cannot yet cool large wine cabinets.
Storing your bottles underwater: the new trend
In July 2010, nearly 170 bottles of champagne were recovered from a shipwreck lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. To the great surprise of the few lucky people who tasted these extremely rare bottles, including bottles from the Veuve Clicquot house, these wines were of exceptional quality: “ What surprised us was that after 170 years spent at the bottom of the Baltic Sea at a depth of 50 meters at a constant temperature of 4 degrees, these wines retained the intrinsic characteristics of Champagne wines in terms of alcohol, sugars, aromas, organic acids, and glycerol,” said Philippe Jeandet, from the Champagne vines and wines research unit of the University of Reims.
Bottles being pampered in the sea? Are you intrigued? See it for yourself!
Since then, the idea of aging great wines under the ocean, in caves, or in the sand has taken root in the minds of many wine enthusiasts. One of the latest experiments was conducted in the South of France by the National School of Divers and the Bandol wine house. They dived 120 bottles of AOC Bandol while their 120 counterparts were stored in a cellar so they could be compared and tasted blind. You will think of it the next time you go out with a mask and snorkel in the calanques near Bandol!
Guillaume Tari, a Bandol winemaker, gave his verdict: “deep waters seem ideal for aging bottles and achieving a kind of immortality. In short, most of the experiments conducted confirm the same thing: wines preserved under these conditions retain their eternal youth. If you wish to entrust your great wines to this method and try an extraordinary tasting experience, you should know that there is a company in France specializing in this concept. Based in Brest, Amphoris will submerge your wines to a depth of 60 meters in one of its underwater cellars. All that will be left to do is choose the bottles that will go on their retreat, as well as the duration of the underwater storage.
Discover our article on setting up your first organic wine cellar
