Can Freezing White Wine Ruins It?

It’s Friday evening after a hard day’s work, and there’s no better way to relax than drinking your favorite white wine and listening to music.

You should freeze it for at least two hours. By the time your friends come over, you need it chilled.

You are hesitant as you wonder if anything will happen to it, will it be worth the risk, and if it will affect the taste of wine?

There are several reasons for the answer to be different. The wine that has a lot of space in its bottle will not present any problems when it is frozen.

If you freeze a full bottle of wine, it will expand and spill out the wine. If the bottle has a wire-caged cork or a screw top, it will most likely break.

There are things that you need to know about wine freezing. You can get a lot of knowledge about freezing white wine by reading this article.

What Happens When You Freeze White Wine?

If you want to preserve wine, it’s a good idea to freeze it. It is important to understand what happens to your wine before you decide to freeze it.

Sedimentation

Wine lovers refer to the wine as wine diamonds because of the crystallized particles in it.

Tartaric acid, a component of wine that creates its tartness, when subjected to freezing ends up being insoluble, thus binding up with potassium to form crystals.

These are harmless and a part of the wine, so there’s no need to be worried about them.

Change In Flavor

Wine’s flavor can change dramatically when it is oxidized.

The flavor will not be altered if the cork or screw is not forcefully opened during freezing. A regular wine drinker is not going to notice the change.

Expansion

Wine will expand even when it is frozen. If there isn’t enough room, this could cause the bottle to break.

If the bottle does not break, the cork could end up being pushed out and the screw top could break. After air finds its way into the bottle, it oxidizes the wine and turns it into a liquid.

At this point, it will have lost its fruity characteristics, and begin to smell like apples.

Is It Possible That A Frozen Bottle Of Wine Explode?

Your bottle of wine may explode when frozen. You will only find wine oozing out of the bottle in other instances.

You can’t drink an exploded bottle of wine because it creates a mess. The type of wine that is most likely to explode is the one that is champagne.

If you must chill this kind of wine fast, you should use the following cooling methods to prevent a mess and loss.

Add Frozen Ice To A Glass Of Wine

Another popular method is for ice cubes to be placed into the wine. Adding frozen grapes will help you cool your drink to the level you want.

The Ziploc Cooling

If you want to use the cooling method, you need to remove the wine from the bottle, transfer it to a bag, seal it, and place it inside ice-cold water.

Within 2 minutes, your wine will have reached a temperature of 50 degrees. The effort to cool it down is made easier by the fact that glass is not a good thermal conductor.

If you want to place the wine in the fridge, you can pour the wine into glasses and cover them with plastic.

Compared to the bottle, the glasses should be thinner and smaller to allow cooling, which only takes 30 minutes instead of 90 minutes.

Ice Bath Horizontally

In restaurants, this method is also practiced. It requires that you take a dishpan, place your bottle of wine inside in a horizontal position, cover it with ice, and then add water.

It will take only 11 to 13 minutes for it to work and your wine will be ready for serving.

Wrap A Wet Towel

Put your bottle in the freezer for 30 minutes and then take a wet towel and wrap it around your bottle.

The reason for doing this is that water is a better conductor of temperature than air and will cool more quickly.

Is It Possible That Freezing Wine Effects Alcohol Content?

The alcohol content is determined by when the sugar in the grapes is turned into alcohol. The alcohol content in the wine stays the same throughout its life once it is completed.

The alcohol content in white wine doesn’t change due to the cold. The characteristics of the wine will be interfered with if it is forced open due to the freezing of the contents.

How Long Is It Possible For White Wine To Stay Inside The Freezer?

Understanding the difference in temperature requirements for storing and serving wine is important. So, let’s have a look at them:

Chill to Serve

Today’s wines are supposed to be consumed within six months. It needs to be stored at the right serving temperature.

The goal of serving wine at certain temperatures is to provide the right environment to maintain the aroma, color, and flavor of the wine, and not necessarily to preserve it.

It’s best to serve Chardonnay at 50 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Light and medium-bodied white wines are best served at a temperature of between 43 and 50 degrees.

Long-term Storage

Wine should be stored at the appropriate temperature to maintain its quality in the event of a temperature change.

55 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature for white wine storage. It’s still considered safe if you have a deviation of 2 degrees upwards or downwards.

Temperature changes can interfere with the chemical interaction of wine, so consistency is highly recommended.

Conclusion

White wine doesn’t necessarily get ruined when you freeze it.

It is best to follow the recommended cooling methods if the wine needs to be cooled fast and to prevent any spillage or breakage of the bottle.

To keep the characteristics of wine, it is important to store it at the appropriate temperature.

It’s important to note the different storage temperatures required for long-term storage, and for serving wine chilled.