My friend and I have a disagreement, but I am inclined to follow his lead usually when it comes to wine as I am a novice relative to him. He told me to never ever put wine in a refrigerator for more then one day as it will “kill” the wine. Is this true?
No.
If you put your friend in the refrigerator for one day that might kill him.
putting wine in the fridge
- makes it cold
- slows down the natural biological process that can lead to spoilage.
But no, it doesn’t magically kill any wine. Just be sure to isolate it from fridge smells with some sort of seal. Then, take it out and let it warm up before serving.
No. I have heard that long-term storage in a refrigerator of a bottle can cause problems due to temperature fluctuations and vibrations.
Personal experience says it’s fine.
You mean, like, a cork?
Maybe he is referring to a cold serving temp subduing the initial flavors especially in red wine. A slow warm-up will be back the nuances.
That just might work.
He still seems to disagree, but I think I have made up my mind. Thank you all.
It is easy to agree to disagree.
Especially when you are right and he is wrong…
So is the only reason that people don’t just put their wines in refrigerators long term that they will not age properly?
In our house there are always three or four bottles of white wine in the refrigerator that are available to be opened up.
Heck, I’m such a bohemian, I’ve forgotten about wine that I put in the freezer for a “quick chill.” It doesn’t freeze solid, but it does create a slush. Set it on the counter for a few minutes, and it’s fine. I can’t say that I recommend it, though.
Many people will store unfinished bottles of red wine in the refrigerator. The theory is that the cold retards the oxidation process that starts the instant the bottle is opened. I guess that makes sense.
Please go back to your friend and ask what process occurs in the refrigerator that “kills” the wine. I, for one, am curious about what he thinks happens to the wine.
Refrigerators are a dry environment and storing wines in that environment will accelerate evaporation.
Wines that have not been cold stabilized will form tartrate crystals on the cork and also in the bottle which will accumulate as sediment.
Labels don’t like extended refrigerator time. They loosen and slide off.
So keeping a few bottles stored in the fridge for the summer so I’ll always have a couples cold bottles on hand should be no problem then right?
Right.
Well… he’s wrong, so you’re OK.
Those with a thousand or more bottles have another reason 
Is your (wrong) friend going with the ‘we’ll agree to disagree’ thing?
Storing a white wine in a refridgerator at under 40 degrees can lead to the formation of tartrate crystals within one week of being exposed to refrigerator temperatures and maybe that is what your friend is getting at but it doesn’t ruin the wine.
We actually just returned to this discussion again today, but on a tangent. It has not turned into how it is bad to put wine in a refrigerator once you’ve opened it. I am typically one who thinks that opening a bottle, pouring our what I want to drink into a small decanter, recorking immediately, and putting in in the fridge is okay as long as you let it come back to room temp the next day before you drink. Friend, insists it’s better to just leave the wine out (recorked) at room temperature. I just figured the colder temperature of a fridge would slow down the degradation process of the wine compared to room temperature, especially if room temp. is high during the summer months.
He qualified his statement by saying that the wine left at room temp and not the fridge will taste completely different than a wine kept overnight in the fridge. I agreed. 
Once again, I think we have agreed to disagree.