Oeno! phile

August 27, 2008 7:20 PM

A scorching hot day and a bottle of wine just arrived off the UPS truck. This bottle of cab must be 90-95F! How to care for this wine now?

Help! I don't want to drink it right away. But this was gifted to us for our upcoming 10th anniversary, so we will (hopefully, if it isn't fried) enjoy it within a week or so. Should I let it cool normally to cellar temps, or stick it in in the fridge to cool fast, or what?

posted by artdrectr to food & drink (6 comments total)

Let it cool off by itself. Don't chill it. Keep it off the cork until it cools down.

Cab, one of the Bordeaux varietals, handles temperature fluctuations a bit more gracefully than some of the other grapes - the old tale says that is why there was always Bordeaux on naval vessels, but rarely Burgundy.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:31 PM on August 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Nothing to do about it now, just leave it standing up for the week in a cool place. The younger the wine is the more likely it is to still be worth drinking. I'd call the shipper and let them know.
posted by foodgeek at 7:48 PM on August 27, 2008

If the wine is not that old, just store it in a cool place. Heat on a relatively young wine kind of "ages" it (but not in a good way) but you should be okay probably. On a larger scale - heat KILLS wine. You should let the shipper know. I've been a member of innumerable wine clubs etc over the years and many of them wont even ship wine during a heat spike.
posted by elendil71 at 9:02 PM on August 27, 2008

Yes, it's pretty young, '05.
I've let it cool naturally.
I'll contact UPS as well as an email to the winery, Gundlach-Bundschu, one of my favorites).
We'll see. Thanks all.
posted by artdrectr at 12:14 AM on August 28, 2008

what a great title.
posted by rux at 9:37 AM on August 28, 2008

Just FYI, Gundlach-Bundschu shipped a case to me during a week when it was 115 degrees here where I live - an all-time record - and the wine seems all right, even the pinots.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:12 PM on August 28, 2008