Conventional wisdom says to store bottles of wine on their sides so that the cork doesn’t dry out and the wine doesn’t go sour (vinegary/acidic). However, I notice in many wine or liquor stores, most of the bottles are stored standing upright. Why is this?
Do the retailers just assume that they will move merchandise quickly enough that the cork won’t dry out in the store and it’s then up to the consumer to store the bottle on its side when they get it home. Does the idea of storing the bottle on its side only pertain to bottle that people expect to have for a long time? How long does it take for your standard cork to dryout and rot?
I realize that their have been advances in cork technology recently with the use synthetic corks, but many bottlers still use natural cork. Does natural cork get treated to lengthen its lifespan in an upright bottle?
You are correct that it is best to store wine on its side for long term storage.
Typically stores that don’t store horizontally are selling less expensive wines that don’t age particularly well anyway. It takes a significant amount of time for a cork to go bad in an upright bottle.
Generally, stores that sell wines that someone might want to keep longer than the cork would last upright will store them properly. But, it is something to watch out for.l
I think it’s because people find it easier to read the label when the bottle is upright.
On a more serious note, most liquor stores around me have their wine stored vertically in wire racks about 4 - 4 1/2 feet high which affords the wine bottles both a horizontal resting place, and, label readability from the bottle on the top.
In my experience, the retailers that expect to move a lot of inventory – grocery stores, mostly – put their bottles upright for visibility, and don’t expect them to sit long enough for a dry cork to be a problem.
I know of at least two local wine specialty shops, though, that store their bottles horizontally. They tend to traffic in higher-priced brands that, I’m guessing, don’t provide a lot of inventory churn. In addition, there’s a grocery store in town that has two wine sections – the lower-priced, high-turnover bottles are out in a regular aisle, displayed vertically, while the higher-priced wines are in a separate room, kept cool and humidified, and stacked horizontally.
So it all depends on the type of product and the store’s overall inventory strategy.