A Wine Refrigeration Guide

When people think of wine refrigeration, they sometimes get confused as to when and how they should go about this technique. Many of us believe that we should place an unopened bottle of wine in the refrigerator, while others believe that the wine should stay on the counter if it is unopened. There are many different speculations on this, so here is a wine refrigeration guideline to help you better understand how and when the wine should be left in the refrigerator.

Unopened Wine

When you purchase a bottle of wine, the best thing for you to do is to keep it in a cool area and keep it in one position instead of having it move around a lot. Now, just because the wine needs to be in a cool place, it doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be left in the refrigerator. As long as it is left out of the sunlight and out of a hot area, it should be just fine. However, if you like your white wine chilled before drinking it, you can stick it in the refrigerator for a little while before consumption. Red wine should normally be left out of the refrigerator because it is usually best when it is consumed at room temperature.

Opened Wine

Once you open a bottle of wine and you have some wine left in the bottle, a great way to preserve the wine is to put it in the refrigerator. By placing the opened bottle of wine in the refrigerator, it will help slow the process of oxidation, which can cause the wine to go bad. By slowing the process it will allow you to be able to keep the wine for a longer period of time, however, it should normally be consumed within a few days after you have put it in the refrigerator.

Red wine can also be refrigerated after being opened but doesn't always have to be. Most red wines do taste better after they oxidize, which means leaving them out with a tight cork in them usually does the trick. It really normally depends on the type of red and the type of grapes that were used to make it. A Merlot oxidizes fast but a Chianti takes a little longer to oxidize. A cheaper red wine will normally age a lot quicker than a more expensive red, and therefore may or may not last any longer in the refrigerator. It is difficult to really determine how to savor a red wine, so the best may sometimes be shown by trial and error.