Food & Wine Nepal – July 2019

(32) Hospitality, Food & Wine, Monthly

Wine FAQs

Best Question: Prakriti Lamsal

Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu

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A BOTTLE OF JACOB’S CREEK WINE

What temperature does bottled wine

freeze at?

Prakriti Lamsal

Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu

It depends on the alcohol content, but

most wine will freeze at about 15 to 20

degrees F, and it would need to stay at

that temperature for a while before it

freezes solidly. Alcohol’s freezing point

is lower than water, but as the water

content of the wine begins to freeze, it

will begin to expand, and this will put a

lot of pressure on the cork, which might

begin to be pushed out, and on the

bottle, which might crack. Don’t freeze

your wine bottles.

How long can you keep an unopened

wine in a kitchen refrigerator? And

can you put it back in the cellar

afterwards?

Mahendra Sherchan

Hallanchowk, Pokhara

Red or white, wines aren’t going to

show their best if they’re stored long-

term in food refrigerators, which are

too cold and too dry. But in the short

term, I think they’re OK, and I usually

have bottles in there for immediate

consumption.

I think that after a couple of months in

a food refrigerator, the cork might start

to dry out, which could prematurely

oxidize the wine, so I try to drink up

before the two-month mark. If you

don’t think you’ll be getting to the

wine in that period, putting it back into

proper cellar conditions is definitely the

way to go. Its stint in the kitchen fridge

isn’t likely to do the wine lasting harm.

How should I store my wine? Do I

need to rotate the bottles?

Samyog Kafle

Kavresthali, Kathmandu

Do your best to keep the wines away

from light, heat, vibration and-most

importantly-temperature fluctuation.

For most people, this could mean a

corner of a closet. Keep the bottles lying

on their side so the cork stays moist and

doesn’t dry out.

If you have a cooling unit, cellar

temperature should be maintained

at 55° F, with 70 percent humidity.

Humidity is good because it’s another

way to protect from drying, brittle corks

that might cause premature aging.

You don’t need to rotate your bottles,

and actually, I strongly advise against

it. I like my bottles to lay

still, so that the sediment

collects on one side and

your bottles aren’t cloudy

and chewy with it.