Yup, that's the subject of a series of posts on a very good "foodie' board I
frequent in the USA. So I thought I'd see what kind of reaction the idea
gets here.

The posters agreed that leftover wine can be frozen (ice-cube trays
suggested) and defrosted later for use, primarily in COOKING. But there
were a few people who said that they've done the same thing for drinking
purposes and the wine tasted no worse than if it had been stored in the
fridge for a few days.

If you can get past the very idea of this concept..... what do you think of
it?? I guess the question is what happens to wine when it is frozen?? I've
always been told to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations. Is cold any
better or worse than extreme heat?

What's your reaction to this?

"Midlife" > wrote in message
...
> Yup, that's the subject of a series of posts on a very good "foodie' board
> I
> frequent in the USA. So I thought I'd see what kind of reaction the idea
> gets here.
>
> The posters agreed that leftover wine can be frozen (ice-cube trays
> suggested) and defrosted later for use, primarily in COOKING. But there
> were a few people who said that they've done the same thing for drinking
> purposes and the wine tasted no worse than if it had been stored in the
> fridge for a few days.
>
> If you can get past the very idea of this concept..... what do you think
> of
> it?? I guess the question is what happens to wine when it is frozen??
> I've
> always been told to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations. Is cold any
> better or worse than extreme heat?

Cold is much kinder to wine than heat. Prior to bottling, white wines are
normally brought to ~26°F and held there for a couple of weeks to encourage
the precipitation of the excess potassium bitartrate. This renders the wine
"cold stable" so that it won't throw a deposit in bottle later in the
refrigerator. This process doesn't have any negative long term impact on
the wine.

As for freezing wine as you described, it's OK for short term "suspended
animation", but if left in such a state (ice cube trays in the freezer) the
wine will lose both water and alcohol and therefore change appreciably in
flavor. It will probably change somewhat from oxidative effects too
(although more slowly than it would at room temperature), but at least it
won't go bad from bacterial spoilage!

Tom S

I froze wines now and then many years ago before I started storing under
ultra-pure nitrogen. The best way I found was to use a heavy zip-lock
plastic bag designed for freezing food. Fill the bag, nearly seal,
squeeze out the air, and finish sealing. Then place in a large flat pan
and freeze. The fairly thin sheet of wine in the plastic bag allows
fairly rapid freezing. You can thaw the bag rapidly in a sink full of
water. I never did this for fine wines. However the wine was quite
drinkable and good for cooking for up to a few months. Tom mentioned
heat stabilization. However you will find that some wines will be a bit
cloudy when thawed because of separation of tartrates. Some better
German and other wines are not heat stabilized, and tartrates are
considered a mark of good wines by many in Germany where heat
stabilization often is frowned on. In any event, the wines, as all other
frozen foods, should be stored at 0 degrees F or less. Enzymes and
oxygen can slowly react with even frozen vegetables and produce off
flavors and colors on long storage. That is why ascorbic acid is added
to some frozen fruits to prevent browning caused by oxygen. Vegetables
to be frozen are blanched in boiling water to destroy enzymes that can
produce off flavors. Just how importan such reactions are in frozen wine
is not apparent to me, but at least one should not be surprised if taste
and smell change a bit on long storage.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase
from my email address. Then add . I do not
check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

In article >, says...
>
>Yup, that's the subject of a series of posts on a very good "foodie' board I
>frequent in the USA. So I thought I'd see what kind of reaction the idea
>gets here.
>
>The posters agreed that leftover wine can be frozen (ice-cube trays
>suggested) and defrosted later for use, primarily in COOKING. But there
>were a few people who said that they've done the same thing for drinking
>purposes and the wine tasted no worse than if it had been stored in the
>fridge for a few days.
>
>If you can get past the very idea of this concept..... what do you think of
>it?? I guess the question is what happens to wine when it is frozen?? I've
>always been told to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations. Is cold any
>better or worse than extreme heat?
>
>What's your reaction to this?

About 2 months back, this very concept got some group time. It seems that one
of the members here did the experiment and was disappointed as to the "
drinkability" of the frozen wine. I had intended to try it, but after that
post, decided that one experimenter was enough. Unfortunately, I do not recall
who that poster was, but think it was one of the experienced statespersons.
I'll do a Google.Groups search and see what I can turn up.

Now, if one did the ice-tray thing, for cooking purposes, then maybe it would
not be quite so bad.

Hunt

I did this only once and had good results. Following a party, we had nearly
3/4 bottle of BV Costal Chardonnay left over. I poured it, not into an
ice-cube tray, but rather a freezer zip-lock bag. I meant to use it for
cooking, but when I opened it (about 2 weeks later) and tasted it (after
defrosting by putting the bag into a tub of cold water), it was quite
drinkable. It looked a little cloudy, which I first I thought might be
suspended ice particles. However, what was left (not much since I drank most
of it) stayed cloudy even after it warmed to room temperature.

I assume I was just lucky that time, but I do look forward to repeating this
experiment the next time we have any leftover wine.

\/

"Midlife" > wrote in message
...
> Yup, that's the subject of a series of posts on a very good "foodie' board
I
> frequent in the USA. So I thought I'd see what kind of reaction the idea
> gets here.
>
> The posters agreed that leftover wine can be frozen (ice-cube trays
> suggested) and defrosted later for use, primarily in COOKING. But there
> were a few people who said that they've done the same thing for drinking
> purposes and the wine tasted no worse than if it had been stored in the
> fridge for a few days.
>
> If you can get past the very idea of this concept..... what do you think
of
> it?? I guess the question is what happens to wine when it is frozen??
I've
> always been told to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations. Is cold any
> better or worse than extreme heat?
>
> What's your reaction to this?
>

I put a bottle of Brauneberger Juffer Riesling (Fritz Haag) in the freezer to
chill and forgot about it. This is a delightful light wine with a little
spritz. That spritz was lost in the thaw, and the wine was a little blah.

Any German, Loire or other wine with secondary fermentation would, I suspect,
be harmed by freezing.

Tom Schellberg

"Xyzsch" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> I put a bottle of Brauneberger Juffer Riesling (Fritz Haag) in the freezer
> to
> chill and forgot about it. This is a delightful light wine with a little
> spritz. That spritz was lost in the thaw, and the wine was a little blah.
>
> Any German, Loire or other wine with secondary fermentation would, I
> suspect,
> be harmed by freezing.

Within this context do you mean "secondary fermentation" in the true sense
(malolactic fermentation), or are you describing a wine that has residual
dissolved carbon dioxide from the primary fermentation?

If I had to guess, I'd say you meant the latter. I suspect that many
(most?) German whites are not permitted to go through malolactic
fermentation.

Tom S

I have accidentally frozen white wines in the freezer several times. I
could not taste any bad effect on the wine from the experience,
although the cork had been pushed part way out of the bottle. I usually
discovered the wine within a day or two, but one time I remember
leaving a bottle in the freezer for about a week.
------------------------------------
Mike's Wine Blog
http://mikeswinecellar.blogspot.com/

Lissen bubbies, I remember back 1831 vas a guy Theordore Dizney, a cricket
player and artist, who was at a voitical testing of Ch. MayblumetFils, a 7
th growth by the time dey got to 1855, stepped too close to da cold
foimentation tenk and vas frozin as a popsicle, when dey thawed him out it
he said it improved hiz taste by 100%, so maybe just next time, you freeze
your tucky and see if can experience da rapture or unctiousity what
ever..........

J. Murray Fefferman
Worlds oldest flasher & winesalesperson
as told to

--
Joe "Beppe" Rosenberg
> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I have accidentally frozen white wines in the freezer several times. I
> could not taste any bad effect on the wine from the experience,
> although the cork had been pushed part way out of the bottle. I usually
> discovered the wine within a day or two, but one time I remember
> leaving a bottle in the freezer for about a week.
> ------------------------------------
> Mike's Wine Blog
> http://mikeswinecellar.blogspot.com/
>

Everyone's favorite culinary jailbird, Martha Stewart, mentioned
something I had always intended to try. If you have some leftover wine
in a bottle, pour it into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer.
Then, the next time you make pasta, toss a syrah-cube or a zin-cube
into the pot.

I wonder why I never tried that? Oh yeah, no leftover wine.


Regards,


Kent Feiler
www.KentFeiler.com

"Kent Feiler" wrote in message...

> Everyone's favorite culinary jailbird, Martha Stewart, mentioned
> something I had always intended to try. If you have some leftover wine
> in a bottle, pour it into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer.
> Then, the next time you make pasta, toss a syrah-cube or a zin-cube
> into the pot.

Works great. I do the same with beef stock. Make your favorite stock. Reduce
down to 1/12th original amount. Pour into ice cube tray, and freeze. Add a
cube or two to chili, stew, or other favorite recipes at a later date. But
whichever you freeze (leftover wine or stock), just be sure to put the ice
cube tray into a freezer-proof Zip-Lock bag, and they'll be good for for at
least a couple of months.

\/