I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got cold
but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but is
there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
Ken

Ken Anderson wrote:

> I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got
> cold
> but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
> couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but
> is
> there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
> Ken

Forget the wine, think about burning down your garage. Carboys can act like
a magnifying glass and start fires. I had a neighbor in Houston who almost
set his picnic table on fire by leaving his carboy on it in the sunlight.

"Ken Anderson" > wrote in message
...
> I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got
cold
> but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
> couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but
is
> there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
> Ken

I don't know how it may have affected the wine, but in general it is not
good and can cause deterioration. Why not cover the carboy with a dark
plastic bag?

Since storing and aging wine properly requires a "cool, dark and
vibrationless environment" I would suspect that light, especially direct
sunlight, would deteriorate any wine. Taste it and let us know.
Al

"Ken Anderson" > wrote in message
...
> I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got
cold
> but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
> couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but
is
> there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
> Ken
>
>

It is probably not good for the wine. The most noticeable effect is that
sun light will bleach the color out of a wine. That is why reds are
traditionally bottled in green bottles. I would not be overly concerned at
this point. Get it out of the sun now and drink it when it is good. If it
was good wine to begin with, the sun will not have ruined it.

Ray

"Ken Anderson" > wrote in message
...
> I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got
cold
> but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
> couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but
is
> there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
> Ken
>
>

Ray wrote:

> It is probably not good for the wine. The most noticeable effect is that
> sun light will bleach the color out of a wine. That is why reds are
> traditionally bottled in green bottles. I would not be overly concerned
> at
> this point. Get it out of the sun now and drink it when it is good. If
> it was good wine to begin with, the sun will not have ruined it.
>
> Ray
>
> "Ken Anderson" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I left my carboy on the back steps in the garage most of the winter. Got
> cold
>> but never froze. In any event, the evening sun was able to hit it for a
>> couple of hours per day. It's probably good practice to avoid light, but
> is
>> there a chance the sunlight actually affected the wine? Thanks!
>> Ken
>>
>>

A neighbor of mine once almost burned his picnic table down by leaving a
carboy filled with water on it. The carboy and water acted like a giant
magnifying glass and focused the sun. Dark wine in a carboy may not have
the same properties but why take chances.

"Paul E. Lehmann"
> A neighbor of mine once almost burned his picnic table down by leaving a
> carboy filled with water on it. The carboy and water acted like a giant
> magnifying glass and focused the sun. Dark wine in a carboy may not have
> the same properties but why take chances.
>
>
I've heard of the fire danger before, but hadn't given it any thought. Might
have got lucky this time. This wine is just Niagara, grown in NE OH which had
a poor season on '03. Still, it's drinkable, though has very little of that
pronounced grapey Nagara flavor. I don't have enough experience to say
whether the sunlight has affected this wine. Four bottles have been drunk so
far, and I expect the remaining 21 bottles will be consumed also! Thanks all,
for the input.
Ken