Destiny Bay wines are handled with great care from the time the grapes are grown, vinified, bottled and cellared at Destiny Bay Vineyards. To protect your investment and ensure that you can enjoy these wines for years to come, please consider the following:
Temperature & Breathing Temperature changes of only a few degrees can dramatically impact the flavor and aroma of a wine. This wine should be served between 18-20°C. Also, the practice of uncorking and decanting the wine or pouring it into a proper carafe to allow the wine to breathe prior to serving is essential. We recommend allowing our wine to breathe for one to three hours. Typically, the older the wine, the less time it needs to breathe prior to serving.
Cellar Temperature & Storage Wine should be stored horizontally to prevent the cork drying out and in dark conditions of 10-15° Celsius and 70% humidity. Temperatures above 15°C can lead to premature ageing. If you do not have a wine cellar, a low point in your home that is cool and dark is an alternative. This wine should never be stored in a wine rack above the refrigerator or stove, or in other warm places.
Initial Ageing Wine opened in the first 1 to 2 years after release will not have developed to full potential. The difference between opening a bottle today and 1 to 2 years from now will be substantial. If you do choose to open a bottle sooner, we recommend allowing several weeks to pass after you receive the wine. Cork Closures Our research has shown that wines which are cellared for more than 2 years show significant improvements in bottle ageing than wines sealed with a screw cap. Our corks are of the highest quality but problems can still arise. If there is evidence of seeping corks, the wine should be consumed immediately and cellar temperature and humidity should be checked.
Cork Taint If one of our wines exhibits cork taint we will provide a replacement bottle, or if they are no longer available, a credit for the purchase of wine from a later vintage. If at all possible, top up the bottle with boiled and then cooled water, stopper it with the original cork in the same orientation as it was originally and return it to us as soon as possible (preferably within 24 hours).
Sediment/Deposits Destiny Bay wine is minimally filtered. During cellaring and maturation of the wine, deposits and sediments will form in the bottle. These should be removed by decanting the wine prior to serving.
