What Color Wine Bottle Should You Use?

A customer wrote us yesterday and asked, “Does it matter what color of wine bottle I put my wine in?” This is a question we get quite often, so I thought I’d go over the answer here real quick.
When bottling homemade wine the only reason the color of the wine bottle would matter is if the wine is left out where it is exposed to light, more specifically, UV rays from the sun, florescent lighting and other UV emitters. These rays can accelerate the oxidation process of your wine.
When bottling homemade wine, the color of the glass will not matter so long as the wine is kept in a dark place. Pick whatever color you like. But if the wine bottles are kept were normal ambient light can get to it, such as in the kitchen, dinning room, etc., you would be wise to use a colored wine bottles. The coloring in the glass will help to filter out much of the UV rays that make their way to the wine bottle.
Oxidation does take time. So don’t think that just because you used clear wine bottles or glass jugs and they’ve been setting out in the light that your wine is ruined. Oxidation is a process that normally takes months, not days or weeks, to affect a wine.
Now that you know, just move your wine bottles to a darker place and remember the next time when you are bottling homemade wine that the bottle color and storage lighting does matter.
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.