direct sunlight

It's a UV light issue that makes the hops in beer 'skunky'

I just put the carboard box the glass carboy came in over it, but anything opaque would do

cheers

ummmm, winemaking :)

and my primary is plastic not glass. my secondary is glass.

but if a cardboard box will do the trick, thanks

I use an old t-shirt it works great

Red wine doesn't like sunlight either; cover it with anything once in the carboy. It's not a bad habit to get into.

Joe

It is not only in making wine that UV is not good for it, you should store your bottled wine in a dark place.

Ray

Absolutely, minimal vibration and temperature under 70F is better too. 55 to 60F would be great. My storage area swings from around 45 to close to 70F gradually over the year but the wines seem to keep well.

Joe

A couple of reasons being:

• Direct sunlight will put a lot of heat into the wine (it's best to avoid temperature fluctuations as much as possible)

• Red wines will have their colour fade in direct sunlight. There's a very good reason why red wines come in green bottles...

Probably the best place that tends to be available is in a cupboard that is not exposed to direct sunlight.

Mike