Wednesday, December 20, 2006

It's Freezing, Part Deux

The great thawing finally took place. Read back to the blog title about Freezing Wines to catch up on the reasons for the experiment. I thawed each bottle at room temperature, though I am told the microwave thaw cycle is no problem as long as you have VACCUSEALED. Both wines had been frozen for 5 weeks when I finally got to them, a point where they would certainly have been toast if left using standard methods of preservation. Results were mixed. The Red was fine, every bit as good as when it went in. The white, while tasting fine, did indeed have the expected tartaric acid crystals in the bottle. Not just a few, but maybe a half inch coating the bottom of the bottle. Every pour stirred them up, and clouded the wine. It was hard to conceive that you would find that appetizing to see when pouring into a glass. Perhaps decanting, but we have already gone to so much trouble, you certainly would say "Forget it! Open something else".
So, for a valuable red that you just can't finish over a couple of days, freezing is worth a try. For a white, not so much. Time to make white wine vinegar.

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