Wine Cooler Temperature Guide

The best wine cooler temperature is between fifty-five and fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Constant temperatures between forty and sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit are acceptable. The most important aspect of cooling wine is the temperature level and the speed of temperature changes. Small gradual changes over a season will not greatly affect a wine, but the same changes over a day will.

Preventing Changes in Temperature

When storing and cooling wine, it is vital to prevent big changes in temperature levels over short periods. A capsule with a sticky residue is an indication that this has happened. The cork will be damaged by continuous expanding and shrinking. It can be compared to inserting and removing many times over many days, causing air to be forced into the bottle and the wine. Once air gets into the wine, it begins to oxidize and will soon become ruined.

Temperature Levels for Wine

The temperature of a wine cooler should be between fifty-five and fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature level, the aging process will occur slowly, and the wine will become complex and full-bodied. Warmer temperature levels speed up the aging process, and colder temperature level slow the aging process. Any wine that is kept at a temperature level higher than eighty-two degrees Fahrenheit for only a month will be permanently damaged.

Repairing Temperature Damage in Transportation

All wines should be stored in a wine cooler, no matter when you plan on serving them. Even a short period of time in a wine cooler can be beneficial. Keep in mind the treatment of the wine you have before you purchased it.  A wine cooler can help to correct any negative treatment sustained in the transporting of the wine.

Effects of Overly High Temperatures

Heat will always negatively affect wine. Keep that fact in mind when taking your newly purchased bottle of wine home in a hot car. A hot car can cook a wine, resulting in permanent damage. 

Effects of Overly Low Temperatures

Excessive cold temperatures also damage wine. A bottle of white wine stored in your fridge for a long period of time will lose a great deal of its character. It is best to store the wine at the proper wine range until you want it. Then place the wine into the fridge about a half hour before you are ready to enjoy it. Wine in the refrigerator will cool about four degrees Fahrenheit, every ten minutes. It will also warm at this rate if sitting on the table. This rate will depend on the room temperature levels, and it will warm at about this same rate when removed and left at room temperature. 

Different Temperatures for Different Wines

The individual temperatures will depend on the specific wine being cooled. While complex red wines should be cooled at a constant fifty-nine to sixty eight degrees Fahrenheit, light red wines can be cooled at a range between fifty-four and fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. Blush, rose and dry white wines need a cooling range of forty-six to fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit, and finally champagne requires a range of forty-three to forty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. Generally, red wines can be served right out of the cooler, and white wines need to be moved from the cooler to the refrigerator before being served.