Storing any food or wine is of great importance to maintain freshness and life as well as getting the very best from them. With regards to wines, how they are stored is very key, especially if they are being kept for a while, as they can be drastically effected if not looked after properly.
The main three key factors to thinking about when storing Champagne are the following:
Temperature: It is recommended that Champagne is stored long term at 10 degree Celsius, short term they can be simply placed in the fridge or on the side at room temperature for only a few days or a couple of weeks otherwise you could effect the quality when it comes round to opening it!
To store upright or not: Champagne can be stored standing up for a short time, ie days or a couple of weeks, though long term they should be stored horizontally so to keep the cork damp and tight rather than dry and potentially leaking.
Bright light! Champagne should be kept in a darker location ideally and should not be placed next to any bright lights and especially they should be kept out of sunlight.
At times it is not easy to store wines professionally, even when it comes to stores selling them they will not always be perfectly located and protected from elements such as temperature, lights and long time standing. It is always recommended to purchase Champagne from the likes of supermarkets that are not at the front of the shelf and instead pull out on from behind as it is less likely to have be sat around for a long time.
At home, it is the case of applying the three simple rules highlighted above, do not store wines close to windows where sun rays can hit them, do not store next to radiators neither open open fires. The best place sometimes if you have not got a lot of options re storage in under the stairs which usually will be dark and next to an external wall.