Where do you store your wine? On a bar cart? Your kitchen counter? In one of those built-in wine cubbies above your fridge?

How long can a bottle sit there before you crack it open? A week? A month? A year or more? Do you chill it before you drink it?

Truth be told, where and how long you store your wine, and at what temperature you serve it definitively matter. Under the right environmental conditions, wine will age gracefully. Under the wrong conditions, it will oxidize and otherwise degrade, leaving you with a wine that tastes nothing like the winemaker intended.

When it comes time to finally drink your bottle, serving temperature is equally as important. How cold or warm a wine is affects how you will perceive its tannins, acidity, fruit, and aromatics. That means, the same bottle of wine can taste round and delicious at one temperature and completely out balance just a few degrees in either direction.

To make the most out of each and every bottle you purchase, follow these tips for proper wine storage and service.