Newbie: Storing champagne at room temperature

Hello All, I don't have a cool place to store champagne except the refrigerator which is too cold. So given that the temperature in the house varies from 72 to 80 Fahrenheit, how long is a bottle of champagne likely to last here? It's stored in a dark and humid place. Thanks, Chris

Reply to
Chris M
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Chris M wrote in news:1192833815.877880.54140 @q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

I would opt for the fridge under those circumstances, esp if the storage isn't forever. Biggest problem with fridge is thatthe cork will dry out and the wine won't age, this is hardly as big an issue as wine getting to warm and prematurely dying.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

Thanks. Out of curiosity, how long would it last outside the fridge? It's been outside the fridge for about 4 weeks now, so I'm wondering if it has started to die already. Chris

Reply to
Chris M

I think that if it hasn't spent a lot of time over 80 degrees you have nothing to worry about.

I've stored bottles of Champagne in the fridge for more than two years and they've been just fine (and I drink enough Champagne that I think I'd notice if it's off). The idea that corks will dry out in a dry fridge is a bit exaggerated-- after all, the humidity INSIDE the bottle is 100% so the inside part of the cork is going to stay wet enough.

To be clear, though, I think you are much better off storing wine inside a refrigerator for even quite a long time rather than letting it sit in a house that gets way too warm.

You're going to want to drink it cold anyway so why not store it in the fridge?

Shaun Eli

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Reply to
Shaun Eli

It looks to me like there is a lot of 98 and 99 Dom perigon out there. when was it disgourgee? where is it stored?

Reply to
gerald

That's interesting that you've stored champagne in the fridge that long. I was wary of storing it there because I read this. Now that I think about this, though, it doesn't make sense that food smells would permeate the champagne. Even if I filled my fridge with just one kind of food and never emptied it or cleaned it, I doubt that would happen.

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Question from ron_s: How long can you store Champagne in a refrigerator?

Ed McCarthy: That's another good question. And I'm glad someone asked that question because this is one of the common abuses I find in Champagne storage. Champagne should not be stored indefinitely in a refrigerator. The excessive cold sort of numbs and flattens the Champagne. It loses its character and flavor, and there are other things about refrigerators. Food smells can eventually permeate the Champagne. You can imagine a strong cheese or something like that. The refrigerator motor going on and off is not good for the Champagne either.

I would say it's fine to store a fine Champagne in a refrigerator for a few days, maybe even up to a week, but you should not store it for a few months or more. I know people that have had Champagne in their refrigerator for years, and I wonder what that Champagne is going to taste like when they open it.

-Chris

Reply to
Chris M

I was just at Schramsberg in Napa and they urged similar NOT to store in refrig.

I do store mine in a garage frige for month at a time. I do NOT have food in there just wine.

I have NEVER had a problem with the wine being numbed.

I have no idea why this rumor exists.

Surely over time the cork could dry out but I have never had this issue. I have Dom, Cristal, Schramsberg and a few others out there. Never been an issue.

Reply to
Richard Neidich

"Richard Neidich" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Of course what they would rather have you do is cool it down and drink it. When the question becomes long term hot room or cold there really can't be any question. cold. Might be numb beats cooked every day.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

I have never noticed my Champaigne being numb and it is stored in refrig.

That was my point.

Reply to
Richard Neidich

If the cork prevents the liquid from getting out (and the liquid is small molecules, mostly water) I'm pretty sure that my garlic isn't going to get in. The seal on the bottle is MUCH more secure than the seal on my fridge door and my kitchen doesn't smell like what I put in the fridge unless I take it out and start chopping.

Shaun Eli

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Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for Smart Minds (sm)

Reply to
Shaun Eli

Reply to
Richard Neidich

And yet, your argument is contrary to conventional cellar wisdom, unless you consider the seal on champagne tighter than other bottles.

Typically we try to cellar wine away from "strong" smells, like petroleum from a furnace. Are you saying that you think it's fine to cellar wine in any malodorous environment so long as the temperature is OK?

Putting aside the "size of molecules" argument, surely we expect some gaseous exchange by way of the cork. That's why screw tops age very differently than cork (is my guess anyway). Certainly it is reasonable to posit that some foody smells might also penetrate.

The question of vibration is separate, personally -- although I'm a strong believer in travel shock -- I think vibration from a refrigerator would not have much effect.

All this said, my cellar is cold enough that champagne needs little chilling!

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

Where we live in NC I have a Crawl spalce under house not a true cellar. So I use mostly Eurocave.

I was in a friends house with a cellar on a 100 degree day here in NC and can tell you that they are NOT cool enough here. It temps were about 75 degrees and varyed tremendously. He had to use air cooling unit to get temps for wine storage.

I enjoy my eurocave system but due to space capacity, I store my champagne in a true refrigerator but no food is there...only wine in my garage.

Reply to
Richard Neidich

Emery Davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@loki.domain.org:

Not so much the tighter seal, I would think, but the fact that champagne is bottled under pressure. Osmosis might still be at work but the higher internal pressure would tend to negate any movement into the bottle, whereas a dry cork in a still wine provides a ready conduit.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

Just to drop in and mention, I bought a bottle of Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill 1993 on January 23, 2004, and it has been in my refrigerator, on its side, in its presentation box, until last Wednesday. I have never had a vintage Champagne before, and I don't think I've ever had any Pol Roger. I know that folks here have mentioned that vintage is an acquired taste, but I really didn't know what to expect. It was very tasty, but I think my taste buds are not sensitive enough to have appreciated it...I had it with broiled lobster tails and apple slices sauteed in butter (it was my 50th b-day :D) The bubbles were very, very tiny, and non-stop. I could get toastiness and maybe a little apple in the taste. Felt really nice to drink, too. Did it knock my socks off? No. I guess I didn't find it better than the regular NV Bollinger I had a couple of years ago. So, I don't know if it was the storage, the fact that is was vintage, or my inexperience. Or maybe I prefer a different style. Maybe I'll have a regular Pol Roger sometime... PS, so the bottle in its box was on the bottom shelf, way in back, and at some point, something spilled and seeped under the box, which then adhered to the shelf. I managed to carefully, without shaking, pry it loose; and pulled it out, with one hand. The tape on the box gave way, and, clunk! The bottle hit the floor! Augh! This was only a drop of about a foot, but, OMG! So I got my biggest bowl and carefully opened the bottle, resting it inside, in case it was a gusher ;) It was okay ;) :) d.

Reply to
enoavidh

enoavidh wrote in news:Xns99D66FC75C5B5enoavidMzDeyahooco@136.142.8.100:

I have had Taitinger's Compte du Champagne and P-J Fluer as well as Dom once, none of them blew me away either, though the Compte came close. For the money the sparkler that I have enjoyed most recently was a Domaine Chandon Rose from Yarra Valley.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

Hi Joseph,

Yes, I can buy the pressure argument. But I'd guess that like any other corked wine, champagne would be best stored away from strong smells.

Then again, I regularly keep some pretty strong cheeses, so I may not be typical in that sense.

Not sure I buy the argument about cold, anyway. How about Glamis? Now about so-called shipwreck champagne? No, it's the risk of eaux de camembert that would keep mine in the cellar... ;)

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

Congratulations D! Sounds tasty, too.

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

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