Wine Opinion | The four worst enemies of wine in hot, burning bright Hong Kong

It seems likely that one of the biggest barriers to broader wine consumption in Hong Kong is the tricky question of how to store it.

The seemingly obvious answer is the mini wine fridge (I am the proud owner of two). However, what follows is advice for those who are not willing to put down cold, hard cash for this admittedly rather chichi home appliance. For the person merely seeking a way to keep the occasional bottle in drinkable condition until it can be relieved of its delicious contents, are you doomed to a lifetime of caramelised chardonnay and stewed shiraz? Not necessarily.

Most commercially available wine is designed to tolerate a certain level of abuse (you didn't hear it from me). Producers of wine for sale at supermarkets, for example, are well aware that most wine isn't stored in a fridge and may be sitting on a shelf for some time.

Room temperatures in Hong Kong supermarkets can rise to 22 degrees Celsius in summer, above the "recommended storage" range of 10-18 degrees Celsius advocated for most fine wine. Thus, most of the compounds that might cause something to go awry - proteins that congeal into an ominous haze, phenols that turn white wines a creepy shade of pink - have been yanked out of most supermarket wines.

But even supermarket wines don't have an unlimited capacity for abuse. There comes a point when a wine must acknowledge that it is derived from natural ingredients that can't stand the battering that a can of cola might.