Can it be Too Cold?

The temperature in your refrigerator fluctuates a lot. That is a bad thing. You may be able to get away with it for a while. As you drink move wine into your good fridge. On the other hand you may be better off just getting styrofoam shippers and storing your excess wine there.

quote:

Originally posted by EagleGrafix:
I've searched back and can not find an answer to these questions.

Can the temperature be too cold for safe wine storage and if so how does extreme cold damage wine?

I've run out of space for a bit and am putting some wine in an old refrigerator. I doubt that is bad for wine but I want to hear it from someone who knows more about it than I do.

Paul,

Is this an old fridge just sitting around unplugged?

quote:

Originally posted by wineismylife:

Is this an old fridge just sitting around unplugged?

It is an old fridge that is operating. The wine I have in there are not my best wines.

There is no problem with "too cold." It just slows the aging process. I remember reading a WS article a few years ago where they pulled Champagne from the Titanic wreckage. It was drinking superbly... very lively and young. They attributed it to the fact that the water was 35F degrees, so the aging slowed to a crawl.

In regards to a fridge storage... you'll never get a solid answer from here. Half think it's OK (I'm in that camp), others think it's not. I provided proof here about the temp. cycles of a fridge. Everyone else just throws out info with no numbers backing it up.

I'll add that I wouldn't be aging old, or delicate wines in a fridge, there is NO PROBLEM storing everyday drinkers.

quote:

Originally posted by EagleGrafix:

quote:

Originally posted by wineismylife:

Is this an old fridge just sitting around unplugged?

It is an old fridge that is operating. The wine I have in there are not my best wines.

As long as these are not your best wines and pretty much short term drinkers there really isn't a problem doing this in my opinion. If you want to improve upon the situation do a google search for a "Wine-Stat". They make an inexpensive device that you can use with the fridge to better regulate the temperature upwards to 55 degrees and it also will save on electricity since the refridgerator doesn't run as much.

Thanks for the input -

quote:

Originally posted by mwagner7700:
In regards to a fridge storage... you'll never get a solid answer from here. Half think it's OK (I'm in that camp), others think it's not. I provided proof here about the temp. cycles of a fridge. Everyone else just throws out info with no numbers backing it up.

I'll add that I wouldn't be aging old, or delicate wines in a fridge, there is NO PROBLEM storing everyday drinkers.

Thanks for that link to a previous discussion - I read through it and clearly I am not storing wine in my kitchen fridge unless we are chilling a white for a meal. I do not have to deal with the problem of frequent door openings etc. I open this one only when I am putting wine in or takeing a couple of bottles out.
Well, maybe that is more frequent than I thought.

quote:

Originally posted by wineismylife:
As long as these are not your best wines and pretty much short term drinkers there really isn't a problem doing this in my opinion. If you want to improve upon the situation do a google search for a "Wine-Stat". They make an inexpensive device that you can use with the fridge to better regulate the temperature upwards to 55 degrees and it also will save on electricity since the refridgerator doesn't run as much.

Thanks for that lead, I'll check into it.
Sometime in the future I will upgrade to a EuroCave or the like but until then, as I buy better wine that can stand some aging I am putting them into my small cooler and moving the frequent drinkers out to "Celler2" as I like to call the fridge.
Maybe I should give it a Bin #