Storing wine in fridge?
May 1, 2024 12:23 PM Subscribe
Can I store unopened wine in the refrigerator?
I have a couple unopened bottles of wine I intend to use for cooking, eventually. I wanted to have some on hand after needing one for a recipe and being unable to find it at the store.
Nothing fancy, one is a basic sake, the other a claret. Both have screw caps.
My apartment experiences fairly intense fluctuations in temperature and gets quite hot in the summer.
Is it ok to store them in the refrigerator and if so, for how long? If not, where else should I store them?
Bonus question: once opened, about how long would they last in the fridge?
I have a couple unopened bottles of wine I intend to use for cooking, eventually. I wanted to have some on hand after needing one for a recipe and being unable to find it at the store.
Nothing fancy, one is a basic sake, the other a claret. Both have screw caps.
My apartment experiences fairly intense fluctuations in temperature and gets quite hot in the summer.
Is it ok to store them in the refrigerator and if so, for how long? If not, where else should I store them?
Bonus question: once opened, about how long would they last in the fridge?
Unopened, there shouldn't be any reason you can't keep the wine in fridge without problems for what would be the lifetime of the bottle i.e. the length of time the bottle can exist when stored in a cool, dark, non-refrigerated space. For most bottles on wine this is measured in small numbers of years.
As for once opened, I can't comment on the sake, but normal bottles (i.e. non-fortified wines) you have a small number of but variable number of days. You should start be able to taste the difference after a day or two. Beyond that, it is crapshoot for when the changes are such that it become unpalatable.
If you are buying wine only to cook with, I'd suggest buying small tetra-packed wine or single serving cans. There are very serviceable boxed wine that will last a month or more once opened but then you are committed to using 3 to 4 bottles worth of one type of wine.
posted by mmascolino at 12:44 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
As for once opened, I can't comment on the sake, but normal bottles (i.e. non-fortified wines) you have a small number of but variable number of days. You should start be able to taste the difference after a day or two. Beyond that, it is crapshoot for when the changes are such that it become unpalatable.
If you are buying wine only to cook with, I'd suggest buying small tetra-packed wine or single serving cans. There are very serviceable boxed wine that will last a month or more once opened but then you are committed to using 3 to 4 bottles worth of one type of wine.
posted by mmascolino at 12:44 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
You can store either thing in the fridge and it will be fine for later cooking. I wouldn't do that to the wine for more than a few months if you intend to drink it after. Not sure about the saki.
Once opened, neither lasts long -- maybe a week or two for saki, less for wine. You can, however, freeze them if all you are going to do is cook with them. Freeze in ice cube trays if you want to be able to use small portions later. Keep in mind that they won't actually freeze solid, though -- you can't just take them out like you might with frozen herb cubes or similar. Pop the whole tray in a zip lock bag to keep freezer flavours out.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:48 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
Once opened, neither lasts long -- maybe a week or two for saki, less for wine. You can, however, freeze them if all you are going to do is cook with them. Freeze in ice cube trays if you want to be able to use small portions later. Keep in mind that they won't actually freeze solid, though -- you can't just take them out like you might with frozen herb cubes or similar. Pop the whole tray in a zip lock bag to keep freezer flavours out.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:48 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
Yes. It's optimal to store them slightly warmer according to the wine world but you won't ruin basic wine by doing so. If you intend to drink any of the claret, it should be removed from the fridge and allowed to warm a bit (generally to just below room temperature) before serving but if you're exclusively cooking with it, it makes no real difference.
Temperature fluctuations are not likely to be too terrible for them
If OP is in one of the areas hitting warm weather, somewhere between 68-72 degrees F is generally held as the upper limit before some damage starts, but to your point, there's a lot of wiggle room especially for relatively short periods of time and with non-exceptional wines. I've taken reds camping the desert where they sat at 110 degrees during the day and it was still perfectly drinkable.
once opened, about how long would they last in the fridge?
That's a matter of opinion. Purists would say no more than 12 hours (if that); I know people that will drink month old open wine from the fridge and say it tastes great. I'd say 1-7 days is the point where most people will notice some negative difference.
I've tried various of the wine stoppers/pumps etc. and haven't found a lot of difference.
If you intend to go a while in between using them, you can freeze it into ice cubes, which also helps portion it into small amounts. It is non-optimal, but for a cooking ingredient and generic table wine, it's fine.
Conversely, if you intend to do a lot of cooking with wine in a short period of time, the boxed wines will stay "good" for about a month. They're rarely exceptional for cooking but many boxes of Black Box Cabernet have gone into my food over the years.
posted by Candleman at 12:48 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Temperature fluctuations are not likely to be too terrible for them
If OP is in one of the areas hitting warm weather, somewhere between 68-72 degrees F is generally held as the upper limit before some damage starts, but to your point, there's a lot of wiggle room especially for relatively short periods of time and with non-exceptional wines. I've taken reds camping the desert where they sat at 110 degrees during the day and it was still perfectly drinkable.
once opened, about how long would they last in the fridge?
That's a matter of opinion. Purists would say no more than 12 hours (if that); I know people that will drink month old open wine from the fridge and say it tastes great. I'd say 1-7 days is the point where most people will notice some negative difference.
I've tried various of the wine stoppers/pumps etc. and haven't found a lot of difference.
If you intend to go a while in between using them, you can freeze it into ice cubes, which also helps portion it into small amounts. It is non-optimal, but for a cooking ingredient and generic table wine, it's fine.
Conversely, if you intend to do a lot of cooking with wine in a short period of time, the boxed wines will stay "good" for about a month. They're rarely exceptional for cooking but many boxes of Black Box Cabernet have gone into my food over the years.
posted by Candleman at 12:48 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
For wine you cook with, once opened just throw it in a freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. It'll stay slushy texture, just give it a stir or a few good squishes to redistribute before dolloping out the amount you need. It's completely fine for flavor and you'll always have wine to cook with with none of the timing anxiety.
posted by phunniemee at 12:50 PM on May 1 [5 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 12:50 PM on May 1 [5 favorites]
Once opened, sake lasts as long as milk.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:56 PM on May 1
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:56 PM on May 1
For the sake, I've had good luck storing the leftovers in the freezer for the next recipe I need it for. I usually use it for braised pork belly.
posted by eekernohan at 12:57 PM on May 1
posted by eekernohan at 12:57 PM on May 1
Exposure to air and high temperature kills wines. Once a bottle is opened, there are little reusable rubber cork kits you can get with a little vacuum pump you use to extract air from the now temporarily-resealed bottle.
The rubber cork will very slowly leak air, but only over the course of a week or two, so if you're using it for cooking it can be helpful for preserving flavor in more expensive bottles. And in the meantime, you can always just do a couple pulls on the pump to extract whatever air has leaked in, so you can extend this more or less indefinitely. Whereas just leaving the bottle open in the fridge will basically make it go off within a day or two.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:02 PM on May 1
The rubber cork will very slowly leak air, but only over the course of a week or two, so if you're using it for cooking it can be helpful for preserving flavor in more expensive bottles. And in the meantime, you can always just do a couple pulls on the pump to extract whatever air has leaked in, so you can extend this more or less indefinitely. Whereas just leaving the bottle open in the fridge will basically make it go off within a day or two.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:02 PM on May 1
Unopened, they both have a shelf life in the small handful of years, although it’s not like they will get any better with time either. Being chilled won’t do anything bad to them and the fridge is cool, dark, and stable.
Opened and used for cooking? Probably a week for red wine (2-3 days for drinking at most, but cooking is very forgiving) until it starts souring and several weeks if not several months for sake (again, much less for drinking). My experience with sake in particular is that it doesn’t really go bad in the same way wine does, it just loses its complexity. This is particularly true if it’s a bit higher alcohol (>15%). Almost any cooking will blow out that complexity anyway unless you’re doing something hugely dominated by sake, so I wouldn’t worry so much about this one. If in doubt, a quick smell or sniff to check that they are in the ballpark of the right flavor will sort you out.
posted by Schismatic at 7:19 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
Opened and used for cooking? Probably a week for red wine (2-3 days for drinking at most, but cooking is very forgiving) until it starts souring and several weeks if not several months for sake (again, much less for drinking). My experience with sake in particular is that it doesn’t really go bad in the same way wine does, it just loses its complexity. This is particularly true if it’s a bit higher alcohol (>15%). Almost any cooking will blow out that complexity anyway unless you’re doing something hugely dominated by sake, so I wouldn’t worry so much about this one. If in doubt, a quick smell or sniff to check that they are in the ballpark of the right flavor will sort you out.
posted by Schismatic at 7:19 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
Just for reference, the scotch, brandy, and port found under Earnest Shackleton's 1908 Antarctic exploration hut was still good when discovered in 2007. So maybe you want to stick it on its side in the freezer?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:54 AM on May 2
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:54 AM on May 2
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I would store open sake in the fridge but I don't know much about sake, so that is really just erring on the side of caution due to ignorance. I keep open reds with a stopper in the bottle on the kitchen table, which is fine for about a week. That, coincidentally, is as long as a bottle of wine can expect to survive in my house anyway. I have heard that if you want your wine to last longer, try putting it in a small jar; you want as little air space as possible. I don't think any open wine is going to last more than two to three weeks, tops.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:38 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]