Wine advice: Can unopened red wine be stored on its side in the refrigerator?

[I Have A Dream]

I've had a bottle of 1998 Michel Picard Merlot in my refrigerator (on its side) since I received it at a gift several years ago. (I can't actually remember when I got it.) I'd like to serve it to guests, but I recently read that it's bad to store red wine in the refrigerator. (I know that it's to be served unchilled.)

Will this wine's taste have deteriorated in the refrigerator? If so, I'll just buy another bottle. In not, I'll serve this bottle. (I don't personally like wine, but I don't want to subject my guests to an unpleasant situation by serving something that might no longer be at its best.)

Any advise that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[flyingfysh]

1. just get another bottle

It's cheap enough. A wine that old might not still be good, unless it is one of those that improves with age when stored properly.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Botulism - New bottle ? new bottle.

[rogerashton]

3. If you don't like wine, don't serve it.

Serve something you can be confident is good. If you don't like wine enough to judge it, it will always be a crapshoot.

That said, a good Merlot goes well with lamb.

[baldguy]

4. It depends

The enemies of wine are light and heat. Remember, wineries store their wines in bottles cellars for decades- dark, slightly humid and 45-56°F. The thing is, they keep them there, and they don't move them

Now, if you've kept it on the door, getting jostled around, and dropping a few degrees every time the door opened, I would keep my hopes up. But if you've had it on the bottom in the back where it didn't get bothered too much, then maybe I would.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. But: advice against a fridge

The ideal temperature to keep wine is between 50 and 57°F (10 and 14°C)

Wine needs a constant temperature all year round to mature.

A fridge is not a suitable place to keep wine as vibrations will destroy some of its components.

http://www.terroir-france.com/theclub/cellar_temperature.htm

[Bear down under]

5. It will probably be fine. Red wine is pretty tough.

And cold damages it much less than heat. But I'd have another bottle -- not necessarily the same wine -- in reserve just in case.

Open it a little while (say 15 minutes) before dinner and taste it. If it's gone off you can substitute the reserve bottle.

If you don't trust your own judgment, you won't look silly if you ask a wine-loving guest to try it for you, explaining that you're worried it might have "faded" in the fridge. Your guest will be flattered to be asked.

[jobycom]

7. Darned good advice. Listen to this one. nt.

[northzax]

8. and you should serve it with a bit of a chill

a merlot serves best at about 60 degrees.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. It Should Be Fine

The only chemical process that takes place with wine is oxidation of the remaining sugars and the alcohol. This turns the alcohol into acetaldehyde and the sugars break into various formates, lactates, and acetates. These have a unique odor and smell nothing like wine.

However, with the cork still in, the foil over the cork, and the liquid up against the cork to keep it swelled, the probability of getting air in the bottle is exeedingly low. In addition, the oxidation, like any other zero order reaction, is proportionally affected by temperature. Since you have it in the fridge at a bit over 0 celsius, the reaction rate would be very slow, even if there were air.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that the wine is perfectly fine.
The Professor

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. It will be fine, but it will be too cold to serve. Take it out an hour before service.

Do not take it out now and let it get to room temperature and then later chill it down - that might have bad effect on it.

The only thing the chill has done so far is keep it from aging like it should have been.

Red wine should be served at around 60 degrees.

The bottle will warm up about 4 degrees every ten minutes once you take it out of fridge. Assuming your fridge is at about 34 degrees, an hour warming up will take it to approx. 58 degrees.

I would suggest you open it about 20 minutes before service, and give it a sniff and a taste then - if the wine HAS gone bad (which I would very surprised if it did), better to know it before the guests arrive then when they drink it with a mouthful of food.

[SteppingRazor]

11. Don't serve it.

"I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!!"



:rofl:


Um, kidding aside, your wine has probably peaked. Over time (especially years in a fridge), the cold prevents the tannins in full-bodied red wines (like Merlot, for example) to soften — meaning a weird texture and a loss of flavor. Your wine, in other words, is probably not going to be particularly good, but also not god-awful. Like a couple posters above, I recommend getting another bottle, opening the cold one earlier, sampling it, and replacing it if needed. Good luck, and cheers! :toast:

[Guava Jelly]

12. I would use it to cook with

and buy another bottle.
You can get a really good bottle of wine these days for under $12.
Almost anything from argentina is delicious.
I am a fan of the Malbec's

[I Have A Dream]

13. Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice!

We're going to get another bottle just in case.

:hi: