We all read regular references to cold cellars slowing down a wine’s development. So why not take your über mature wines, that you don’t want to develop more or that are in danger of imminent demise or premox, and store them in a wine fridge or elsewhere at, say, 50F? 45F?
I have a few cases of wine that fit this profile, so I wonder, why not slow down maturation/oxidation even more by storing them at 45-50F? Does it work? Anyone try this?
Or do you need to store a bottle at cold temps it over most of a wine’s life to have any effect?
I have stored my wine since acquisition at 50 degrees and the bottles remain fresh and lively. They develop well but slower. Taking an old bottle and placing it in a cold environment won’t improve it but may slow subsequent development.
Nice thread, Alan. I hadn’t seen that one. I don’t know the answers to your questions, but I like the way you frame them and address them.
I agree with the thoughts above, that once a wine is already “old/delicate,” you aren’t going to improve it or cure it of anything from its past history by putting it in very cold storage, but you can slow its rate of aging from that point forward.
I think an even better answer is this: if the wine is “old/delicate” or “uber mature” or “in danger of imminent demise or premox,” why not go ahead and open it this year? What is the point of seeing if you can stretch out its life another decade by storing it at 45 degrees?
This is an interesting and logical idea. I hadn’t thought of it before but it certainly seems to make sense. For those few '70s wines I own I might make an effort to figure out how to do this.
I guess there’s two ways to look at the same thing:
(1) My wines that are “old/delicate” or “uber mature” or “in danger of imminent demise or premox,” I’m going to use a separate cold cellar to try to preserve the end of their lifespan, or
(2) I would use a separate cold cellar to store younger wines that I want to cellar for a long time, before they get the additional advancement that may come from storage at higher temperatures.
I debate that myself sometimes. I tend to go with approach (2) – that I’d sooner allocate my coolest cellar space to younger wines I buy that I plan to store for a long time, and I figure that a wine that is late maturity has already had its decades of whatever condition it had, and I can’t make any meaningful difference in what the wine is going to be like by lowering the temperature 10 degrees for years 23 and 24 before drinking it in year 25.
That’s assuming you have different storage with not all of it at a coolest temperature - it sounds like Alan has had the ability to make his entire cellar 50 degrees, so that makes it easier.
What this thread’s question raises…is exactly what Bern’s in Tampa actually does…certainly such cool temps will “preserve” any wine.
Personally, I want to drink my wines…and have my wine cellar set so it doesn’t exceed 70 in the summertime (it is naturally in the 50s in winter). I think this temp has served me well…as my 1990 and earlier red Burgs are drinking nicely…now.
An old friend, who is turning 60 this year stored his wines at 50-55 for years. Two years ago he became convinced that stored that way…he would certainly miss their peaks of enjoyment, as almost all his wines were much less mature than he expected, particularly his red Burgs and Bordeaux. So…he raised it to 65-70 in a panic. I think he still looks at it as race against refrigeration.
I wouldn’t change anything…even in retrospect. And…seasonal variation is something most Burgundy producers, who have mostly natural cellars, recommend. FWIW.