Wine

[jogoode]

I had by my standards a nice bottle of wine to bring to a dinner. Someone left it outside for about ten hours and when I found out and brought it in, it was VERY cold. must have been 38-43 degrees outside. I've kept it at close to 55 since then (20 hours).

Is the wine ruined? And more generally, I've heard about a range of temperature at which meat quality, if left for a certain amount of time, suffers. Is there a basic rule that says "If a wine is left at X temperature for Y time, it starts to degrade"? This applies to those of us with a makeshift wine cellar (I keep my wines under the stairs in my basement where it stays relatively cool, but I'm constantly afraid that any drastic change in the already uncontrolled conditions will murder my stock.)

[balex]

There are a couple of general guidelines:

extreme heat is worse than extreme cold -- as long as it doesn't actually freeze. Optimum is 10-15 C. (about 50 - 60F)

fluctuations are worst of all -- particularly regular daily fluctuations, because the expansion and contraction of the air causes the cork to leak and fail.

prolonged mild heat will just accelerate the aging of the wine.

very low humidity will cause the cork to dry out; very high humidity is ok for the wine, but bad for the label.

Note that these are rules for wine sealed with a natural cork. I guess some of these don't apply so much if it has a synthetic closure.

So in your case it's probably ok.

The (a) basic rule of aging is that at 20C it ages twice as fast as at 10 C, and at 30 C twice as fast again. But this misses the point, because at the higher temperatures, different reactions will take place.

Edited October 23, 2003 by balex (log)

[melkor]

I wouldn't worry about it at all, if the wine was below freezing for an extended period of time that might be a concern, but cold is far better than hot.

[jogoode]

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. I'm glad I didn't store the wine next to the heater this afternoon to compensate for the cold yesterday!

[jogoode]

The wine -- an aglianico from Irpinia -- drank well, thank God.

[Mark Sommelier]

The wine -- an aglianico from Irpinia -- drank well, thank you

Where the hell is Irpinia ?

[Bill Klapp]

Mark: southern Italy, in the Naples-Amalfi Coast latitude. balex, I think that you summarized things very well, but I would add two tidbits: the conventional wisdom is that wine should never be stored above 70F for an extended time. The theory is that, not only will aging be accelerated, but also that ageworthy wines can never develop the complexity that they portend. In all that I have read, however, the 70F mark seems to be somewhat arbitrary. I have a passive cellar in Italy, and a recording thermometer in it. I was worried about this summer's record heat, but when I returned to Italy, I saw that the high temperature was 73.6F, and probably not that for very long. I tasted through some of my wines, and they were all fine (thank God!). I wanted to focus on your fluctuation comment, however. While daily fluctuations are certainly bad, my experience has been that very gradual, year-round fluctuations from, say, 45 to 65F (and this would be the maximum range, I think), are actually better for the wine than the constant 55F delivered by cooling units (assuming proper humidity for the corks). This is the case in all of the great passive cellars in Europe, including those of wine producers, and I believe that the very gradual and subtle changes in temperature promote greater complexity while preserving the fruit. Wine generally freezes around 26F due to the alcohol, and while aging comes to a standstill at some point, I think that you are right when you say that, short of freezing, cold does little or no damage to a wine.

[ctgm]

I am not sure if freezing the wine has as much effect as thought. Sure it is not good for the wine as it will "damage" its structure - wine is a living thing. I should qunatify that as being as long as it is very lightly frozen rather than becoming a complete ice cube. The reason being is that most wines have already been reduced to near freezing point to stabalise the tartrates.

[balex]

I am not sure if freezing the wine has as much effect as thought. Sure it is not good for the wine as it will "damage" its structure - wine is a living thing. I should qunatify that as being as long as it is very lightly frozen rather than becoming a complete ice cube. The reason being is that most wines have already been reduced to near freezing point to stabalise the tartrates.

Well, it will probably make the cork pop out

What do you mean by "living thing": do you mean yeast or bacteria or...?

Bill, I thought your point about long-term fluctuations was very interesting. Sounds plausible too. Do you think it is because of the temperature changes directly, or because it creates a very slow air flow through the cork?

[Bill Klapp]

balex, I would have to guess air flow around the cork at varying temperatures, because if my cellar in Italy is any indication, the temperature changes are glacially slow. Even in a wild year like this one, a 20F swing over 12 months is not profound in an area where 20F swings between day and night, when a weather front comes in from the Alps, is not unknown.

[jogoode]

Irpinia is a province of Campania. The wine's made by Salvatore Motteleri (Moletteri?) in the DOC zone of Taurasi (NE or central East Campania), where high altitude vineyards near old volcanoes produce wines with strong tannins, despite their being aged for three years, at least one in oak barrels, before they're released...

[balex]

Irpinia is a province of Campania. The wine's made by Salvatore Motteleri (Moletteri?) in the DOC zone of Taurasi (NE or central East Campania), where high altitude vineyards near old volcanoes produce wines with strong tannins, despite their being aged for three years, at least one in oak barrels, before they're released...

Molettieri.

Is that the Cinque Querce? What year?

I like some Taurasi a lot.

[jogoode]

Is that Cinque Querce? What year?

------

Yes. 2001. Can you tell me what Cinque Querce refers to?

[balex]

Is that Cinque Querce? What year?

------

Yes. 2001. Can you tell me what Cinque Querce refers to?

It means 'Five Oaks' -- I would guess it is the name of the vineyard.