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When it comes to drinking wine, the conventional guideline is that white and rose wines should be served chilled, while red wines should be served at room temperature. Many of us put white and rose wines in conventional refrigerators and leave them there for hours, days, or even weeks to chill. If you’re wondering, should wine be refrigerated? You’re reading the right article!
IS STORING WINE IN AN ORDINARY REFRIGERATOR IDEAL?
These instructions apply to a regular kitchen refrigerator, not a wine refrigerator. Wine freezers are specifically intended to provide an ideal environment for wine, which includes maintaining a comfortable temperature and a humidity level of around 57 percent to keep a wine cork moist. A typical kitchen refrigerator is a polar opposite. It is designed to be cooler than a wine refrigerator and to have no humidity. As a cork dries out, it shrinks, allowing more air to enter the wine. A kitchen refrigerator will often keep wine cooler than it needs to be.
Because they are not built for a wine bottle, you should never keep wines in the refrigerator for more than a month when trying to keep wine fresh. Still, if you only have a kitchen refrigerator, as I do, placing wine in it is fine if you follow some principles. This is why a wine fridge can be seen in more homes these days.
Red Wine
Except for sparkling wines like Lambrusco, very few reds need to be totally cold before consuming. They benefit from being refrigerated once they’ve been opened.
Keep a bottle of red wine in the fridge once you’ve finished drinking it. When the weather gets cooler, everything comes to a halt. The wine is still maturing, but at a slower rate than if you store wine on the kitchen counter.
Take the wine out of the fridge approximately a half hour before serving to bring the temperature back up. Reds with high alcohol content, such as 14 percent or higher, are frequently advised to be chilled for a short time before serving to temper the alcohol.
How Long Does Wine Last After Opening the Bottle?
Sparkling Wine
You’ll often hear that having a bottle of bubbly in the refrigerator is a good idea in case you have an unexpected occasion to rejoice. While this isn’t a bad sentiment, nearly all sparkling wines, including Champagne, prosecco, and cava, will suffer from a lack of moisture.
Natural corks are used in sparkling wines. Only keep them in the fridge for two to three weeks. So, how can you make sure you always have a chilled bottle of bubbly on hand for a surprise party? My recommendation is to rejoice at least once a month. You don’t even need a special occasion to crack open a bottle of Champagne or other sparkling wine. It’s quite food-friendly, so drink it with supper if you have a bottle that’s been in the fridge for approximately three weeks. Then, just in case, put another bottle in the fridge.
White Wine and Fortified Wine
White and rose wines can be kept in the refrigerator, but only for a month at the most. Over the course of a month, the wine will oxidize slightly. Any wine with a cork oxidizes at an extremely slow rate, but corks dry up in the refrigerator due to a lack of moisture. It will oxidize faster than if it is kept outside of a regular household refrigerator.
Make a screw cap or one that you know has a synthetic cork if you want to store a bottle of white or rose wine in the refrigerator for a long time, just in case a wine-loving friend drops by unexpectedly. Those closures aren’t as reliant on moisture levels to prevent the wine from oxidizing faster than intended.
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR WINE TO GO BAD?
You wouldn’t leave leftover food out on the counter all night, and you shouldn’t do the same with wine. Bacteria can grow quickly, so if you’re not sure if your wine is bad, look for these three signs:
Color
The color of spoiled wine varies depending on the variety. If the color of your red wine has gone brownish, it’s probably time to pour it down the drain. If the color of white wine has changed to a dark or deep yellow—even brownish—it has gone rotten.
Smell
Yes, you’ll be sniffing this wine like you would leftover Chinese food to see if it’s still edible. A moldy or musty odor is something to keep an eye out for. You can relate it to the scents of a musty wine cellar, vinegar, wet cardboard, or a raisin for a better comparison.
Taste
Finally, think about the flavor. This should be one of the simplest methods to recognize if things have gone awry right away. Consider it your Fear Factor audition tape. It’s probably gone bad if a red wine tastes sweet (like a dessert wine). If sections of a white or rosé wine seem sour or imbalanced, it has most likely turned. Fortunately, you can generally tell if something is wrong immediately, so trust your instincts!
A FEW GENERAL POINTERS
- Keep unopened wine in the refrigerator with the natural cork laying flat. When it comes to preserving wine, the most important thing to remember is that the wine should always be in touch with the cork.
- Keep unopened wine away from the refrigerator’s motor, which causes the most vibrations. Vibrations are not good for wine.
- Close open wine bottles as firmly as possible before putting them in the refrigerator or even keeping it on the counter by replacing the cork or using a wine stopper that fits perfectly.
Summary: Should Wine Be Refrigerated?
Are you wondering should wine be refrigerated? When it comes to drinking wine, the conventional guideline is that white and rose wines should be served chilled, while red wines should be served at room temperature. Many of us put white and rose wines in conventional refrigerators and leave them there for hours, days, or even weeks to chill.
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