(Eater) - At iconic New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, sommelier Dan Davis oversees a list of 2,700 wine bottles. Nbd. And in honor of spring cleaning, Davis considers the best practices for wine storage. Below, how to store bottles for the short and long-term, ideal temperatures, and cork conditions.

Q: How should I store wine at home to maximize a bottle's potential?

Davis: There are many factors to consider when storing wine at home. All table wine will be affected, to some degree, by temperatures that are too high (above 77°F or 25°C), or by temperature variation over time. Even a few hours above this temperature will result in noticeable loss of fruit expression and may even result in a wine that is "cooked"—displaying characteristics of stewed or raisinated fruits that would not normally be encountered in the wine. Light-bodied wines such as 2013 Domaine Henri Boillot Bourgogne Rouge ($30) and 2014 Do Ferreiro Albariño from the Rías Baixas ($26)are particularly susceptible to heat damage.

Wine bottles with cork closures are also sensitive to humidity; if the cork dries out, oxygen will get past it and spoil the wine. It is generally accepted that the perfect conditions for storing wine long-term are those found in an underground cave: around 55°F (13°C) and between 70 and 90 percent relative humidity. Obviously, a dedicated wine cellar with controlled temperature and humidity is the best place to store wine for the long haul. Since most of us do not have a wine cellar in our homes, however, we must explore other options.

Consider the length of time you anticipate keeping the bottle before opening it. If you intend to open a bottle within a few weeks or so, it is just fine to keep a white wine in the refrigerator and a red wine on a simple countertop wine rack. Make sure the wine rack is not exposed to direct sunlight, and if you set the thermostat above 77°F (25°C) for hours at a time, you’d be better off not using a countertop rack at all. You also need to have some idea of the aging potential of a wine. Some wines will improve with age, and some will deteriorate over time. Others will have reached a plateau in their development and will neither improve nor deteriorate for a good long while. Knowing where your wine falls in this spectrum will be key to determining how you store the bottles.