Wine fridge?

J J Levin

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Jun 26, 2009, 4:15:46 PM6/26/09

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I enjoy a glass of dry red wine in the evening, but now that summer has
arrived, if I leave the bottle out, the taste changes quickly and not for
the better; if I refrigerate it, it's too cold.

Is there a wine "fridge" or cooler for 1 bottle, which would keep the wine
at a steady temp (55, 60 deg) ??

I am not looking to store an entire cellar, and I've seen the 12 and 18
bottle coolers, but I really need to keep just the one bottle at the same
drinkable temp at a reasonable price.

Any recommendations?

Thanks for any assistance,

Jay

Doug Anderson

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Jun 26, 2009, 5:03:16 PM6/26/09

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"J J Levin" <jjl...@optonline.net> writes:

> I enjoy a glass of dry red wine in the evening, but now that summer has
> arrived, if I leave the bottle out, the taste changes quickly and not for
> the better; if I refrigerate it, it's too cold.
>
> Is there a wine "fridge" or cooler for 1 bottle, which would keep the wine
> at a steady temp (55, 60 deg) ??

I don't know of anything like this. But I have two suggestions:

1) have two 375 ml bottles.

When you open your bottle, pour your glass, then immediatly fill and
cork one of the 375s, and put the rest in the other 375. The full 375
should keep fine for a few days, and the not full one should keep
better than a big bottle. Drink from the not full one (I'd consider
refrigerating it, and then pouring the glass 30 minutes before you
want to drink it.

or

2) I don't know what sort of wine you like to drink, but at the low
end, there is some wine that many people find drinkable. Some of
this is in a bag within the box, and the bag contracts as you pour
wine, minimizing air exposure to an impressive extent.

If you can find something in this category that you like, it might
be an ideal solution.

Joseph Coulter

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Jun 26, 2009, 5:41:39 PM6/26/09

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In basic wine 101 you are taught, "never ever ever hold the wine glass
by the bowl, use the stem only." Every good rule deserves an
exception, this is it. "When the wine is too cold for enjoyment, place
hand or hands under and around the bowl. Cradle wine for several
minutes until the bouquet is released and wine may be enjoyed."
Joseph Coulter
Joseph Coulter Cruises and Vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

Mark Lipton

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Jun 26, 2009, 5:56:08 PM6/26/09

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Just keep the bottle in the fridge and apply a very brief zap in the
microwave to bring a glass of wine up to temperature. A former
sommelier here once referred to the microwave as "the sommelier's
friend." ;-)

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

J J Levin

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Jun 26, 2009, 6:30:32 PM6/26/09

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"Mark Lipton" <not...@eudrup.ude> wrote in message
news:h23g5o$2rd$1...@mailhub227.itcs.purdue.edu...

Hmmm... thanks... it doesn't hurt the wine to zap it for 4-5 seconds ? The
taste is not affected?

Jay

Mark Lipton

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Jun 26, 2009, 10:20:50 PM6/26/09

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J J Levin wrote:

> Hmmm... thanks... it doesn't hurt the wine to zap it for 4-5 seconds ? The
> taste is not affected?
>

As long as you don't overdo it, the taste isn't affected. You're just
speeding up the warming process that would otherwise take an hour or so.
The thing to be careful about is not (over)heating the wine. Your
microwave might have "hot spots" in it such that one part of the wine
gets hot far more quickly than others. Start with a 2-3 sec zap and see
what that gets you. Give it more if it needs it.

Dana K6JQ

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Jun 27, 2009, 1:02:44 AM6/27/09

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On Jun 26, 7:20 pm, Mark Lipton <not...@eudrup.ude> wrote:
> J J Levin wrote:
> > Hmmm... thanks... it doesn't hurt the wine to zap it for 4-5 seconds ? The
> > taste is not affected?
>
> As long as you don't overdo it, the taste isn't affected. You're just
> speeding up the warming process that would otherwise take an hour or so.
> The thing to be careful about is not (over)heating the wine. Your
> microwave might have "hot spots" in it such that one part of the wine
> gets hot far more quickly than others. Start with a 2-3 sec zap and see
> what that gets you. Give it more if it needs it.

Often, using a very low power setting will result in a low "duty
cycle", meaning the oven will zap for 2 seconds out of every 20.
I've found that warming barbecue and warming wine is about the
same in that respect.

Mark's on the money, of course.

Dana

J J Levin

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Jun 27, 2009, 10:55:52 AM6/27/09

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Thank you!!!

Jay

"Mark Lipton" <not...@eudrup.ude> wrote in message

news:h23vmb$oe8$1...@aioe.org...

Shaun Eli

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Jun 29, 2009, 5:30:25 PM6/29/09

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Keep the opened bottle in the fridge. When you want to drink it, put
it in a 4 cup measuring cup or small pot of hot tap water (120 degrees
for 30-40 seconds) and it should reach drinking temperature.

Shaun Eli
www.BrainChampagne.com

Jota

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Jun 30, 2009, 8:05:07 AM6/30/09

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Hello everyone!
Another cheap, easy, simple (but not perfect) solution is taking the
air out of the bottle. Then you can put the wine in the fridge
(without air) and it will be very well conserved.

The tool to take the air out of the bottle is a special cap and a
pump: for example http://www.granseleccion.com/shop/assets/product_images/174.gif

Best regards from Uruguay,

Juan.

There are some tools to do it,