Storing Homemade Wine At Refrigerator Temperatures

Hello EC Kraus,

We purchased a refrigerator to store our wine in, but the temp. is 47 degrees. We cannot get the refrigerator to go any higher.............Is that too cold to store wine?

Darlene
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Hello Darlene,

Thank you for this great question.

You are correct in assuming that temperature does make a difference when storing wine. But having said this, most home winemakers store their wine at room temperature or basement temperature and do perfectly fine.

Simply stated, temperature affects a wine by changing how fast or slow it ages. The cooler the temperature, the slower it will age. The warmer the temperature, the faster it will age.

You would think that you would want your wine to age faster so that it could taste better sooner, but this is really not the case. While wine does get better with age, there is also a life-cycle that needs to be consider.

A wine will typically improve for a period, then somewhat plateau in its improvement for a time. After that, it will very, very slowly begin to degrade in quality. A wine may reach its best in 6 months. Others might take 6 years. A lot of this has to do with the wine itself. Its body, flavor and structure all play a role. But temperature plays a role as well. Then as time progresses the wine will slowly begin to become flabby, lifeless, then finally, unacceptable to drink. For some wines this might be 5 years, for others 50.

Just how high a wine will plateau in quality is up to the wine, but how fast and long it stays at this plateau is up to the keeper of the wine and the temperature they decide at which to store the wine.

All of the above applies equally to commercially made and homemade wines. Most wine experts agree that 55 F. is a good temperature to stay with when storing wine for the long hall. I personally do not see a problem with 47 F., particularly if you think some of your wine might last 7-8 years or more. If I were in your situation, I would not have a problem with using the refrigerator at 47 F.

Happy Wine Making
Customer Service at E. C. Kraus