How long to rest shipped wine?

December 5, 2008 4:18 PM

Just received a shipment of a case of wine (Pinot Noir.) It came half-way across the country be truck in the last couple of days. How long does it need to rest (cool dark and not vibrating) before it will recover its original goodness?
posted by leafwoman to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Wine won't "heal." If it was corked in the moving process it's corked. If the first one is corked there's a good chance the rest are too. Don't open them and try to get a refund on the case.
posted by muscat at 4:28 PM on December 5, 2008

Well, it doesnt. What damage (if any) that has been done, is done. Cool it for a couple days and serve it. It could still age (if that's what you want) even if its been mistreated so reserve a few and find out.
posted by elendil71 at 4:30 PM on December 5, 2008

Response by poster: Isn't most wine shipped by truck? I don't think it was mistreated (I didn't mean to imply that) I know the wine I buy at the local wine shop is brought in by truck, why would this be different. I doubt I could get a refund just because it was shipped.

I just wanted to know how long it needs to rest before I drink it. I guess from the first two comments that the only place to get real wine is at the vineyard.
posted by leafwoman at 4:56 PM on December 5, 2008

Best answer: The "bottle shock" from the truck-trip is a real factor - let the case sit for 10-14 days before drinking. The wine shop where I work lets cases sit like this before we put them on the shelf to sell.
posted by chudmonkey at 5:04 PM on December 5, 2008 [5 favorites]

Factor in slightly more time for older wines and wines with lower alcohol content. Robuster, younger wines need less time. Also, factor in quality and expense.

Everyday, reasonably strong, young wines....bah, just open it up and drink.
Aged great bordeaux...couple weeks bare minimum.
posted by jimmyjimjim at 9:14 PM on December 5, 2008

Could someone explain to me what exactly the "damage" is that is done to a bottle by shipping it?
posted by HuronBob at 7:43 AM on December 6, 2008

Best answer: Very concentrated wines precipitate out tartaric acid crystals as sediment; wines that are made unfined and unfiltered (rare these days) have a certain natural amount of other particulate sediment in them as well. If you look at a Bordeaux bottle you see it has a shoulder; when the bottle is stored on its side, the sediment comes to rest there due to gravity, and the shoulder traps it when you pour it.

Now when you take a nice rested bottle and shake and vibrate it, all that sediment comes loose and some goes back into suspension. It's hard for me to believe that 14 days is necessary for it to settle out again, but 1 day certainly isn't enough.

Filtered wine, which most is, these days, isn't subject to this as far as I am aware.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:37 AM on December 6, 2008

ikkyu2... thanks for the clear answer...

drinking primarily inexpensive california and australian wines, I suspect this isn't an issue with most of my bottles...
posted by HuronBob at 10:21 AM on December 6, 2008

Response by poster: This was a case of Castle Rock Pinot Noir 2006 Mendocino, an inexpensive but surprisingly good wine, worth looking for if you can find it. Our area is out of the 2006 and the 2007 seems not up to snuff so I found some on the web and had it shipped to me.
posted by leafwoman at 11:17 AM on December 6, 2008