POLL: What temperature is your wine fridge or cellar set to?

[Sean]

deleted

[Mike Hawkins]

Whoever wrote the manual doesn’t drink wine…. Drinking champagne at 6c will mean the acid will dominate the palate in my experience.

[mychurch]

All the Wine Fridges I have ever had were set 14 in the winter and 15 in the summer.

Drinking whites I always kept in a standard fridge out in the shed. I now keep as many of my screw cap whites there as I can fit. Temp is set to the max for the fridge, so 6 to 8 degrees.

Never have much bubbles and whenever I buy some it goes straight into either the fridge in the kitchen or the one in the shed.

I

[Ian S]

All the Wine Fridges I have ever had were set 14 in the winter and 15 in the summer.

Drinking whites I always kept in a standard fridge out in the shed. I now keep as many of my screw cap whites there as I can fit. Temp is set to the max for the fridge, so 6 to 8 degrees.

Anywhere between ~ 12 and 15C always felt sensible. A few degrees lower fine, but at some point I'd worry about any resultant lengthening of the lifespan of the wine, being compromised by expecting the cork to also last longer.

I'm not sure I especially bought into it, but the old advice was to avoid ordinary fridges for extended ageing, as the vibration was a problem. Whether this was because it compromised the cork seal or the vibration advanced / changed the ageing profile, I never do recall hearing. If the former, then presumably that advice needs to be retired in the screwcap era?

[mychurch]

Ian

There was anecdote on Wine-pages from someone who had kept a bottle of champers in the fridge for 10+ years (might have been longer) and it came out fine.

I have seen a foto of a wine that split due to vibration and I am wary about corks drying out, but I don’t have many worry’s about the screw cap whites I have. I doubt any will make it past the 10 years in the fridge and if the vibration helps age them, then that’s a plus.

[WineRick]

16. Want to look after the fridge, not to mention the power bills. Constant temp is the main thing - 1 or 2 degrees here and there is nothing.

[Andrew Jordan]

16 for me as well. Want my wines to age slowly ... but not too slowly so I can enjoy them in my lifetime!

[tarija]

Fridge for white wine: 10 degrees

Fridge for red wine: 15 degrees

These fridges are for near term consumption, so I want the wines to be at drinking temperature, or can warm up to it.

Offsite cellar is probably 16-18 degrees - not optimal according to received wisdom, but it’s the best I can do in the current circumstances. Would prefer 13-14 degrees.

[Ian S]

I really wouldn't worry about 16-18C.

[Con J]

The offsite storage sits at 14-15 degrees.

Fridge at home is cold at around 10 degrees, this is for drink now and somewhere to put purchases before they go offsite.

I think I told you guys before I bought this old Liebherr for $40 about 7-8 years ago and still going strong. The only problem is the bottles get a bit mouldy when you open the fridge on a hot day and the bottles sweat.

Cheers Con.

[VinoEd]

Yes, my offsite is temperature controlled at 14, and my vintec at home sits at 12. I keep some of the “aged and ready to drink over the next 6 months” wines in the Vintec.

Comments re temperature and how quickly the wines will age (or king it may take) are interesting and insightful. Makes me think certain producers / wines may need a slightly different approach to get them into the zone faster.

Cheers Ed

[mjs]

I have most of my wine in professional storage in both Melbourne and Adelaide, but there is also 50 doz or so in the cellar at home. It is a typical cellar built for a stone villa in the early 1900's in inner suburban Adelaide. originally intended for food storage, it has a vent to the outside which I have closed off. Only passive temperature control, to date I haven't insulated it more substantially, eg the ceiling is just the underside of the ground floor floorboards. Diurnal variation of temperature is good (ie bugger all) but it does gradually change temperature with the seasons. Generally about 15-16deg from about now to late spring. In mid summer it will be pretty much about 20 deg, which is probably too high. Humidity is pretty good, about 50%. Not sure if I will go to the bother of more insulation and active temperature control. Seems to work ok so far.

[Chuck]

I have most of my wine in professional storage in both Melbourne and Adelaide, but there is also 50 doz or so in the cellar at home. It is a typical cellar built for a stone villa in the early 1900's in inner suburban Adelaide. originally intended for food storage, it has a vent to the outside which I have closed off. Only passive temperature control, to date I haven't insulated it more substantially, eg the ceiling is just the underside of the ground floor floorboards. Diurnal variation of temperature is good (ie bugger all) but it does gradually change temperature with the seasons. Generally about 15-16deg from about now to late spring. In mid summer it will be pretty much about 20 deg, which is probably too high. Humidity is pretty good, about 50%. Not sure if I will go to the bother of more insulation and active temperature control. Seems to work ok so far.

In our Adelaide cellar we had similar experience with temperature range - winter to summer. Did load the ceiling with a couple of layers of good insulation batts. Basic but it worked well.

[DJ]

have it set at 15 voted 16