Can You Freeze Wine?
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We’re looking through our freezer, and … oh no! We find a bottle of wine we stuck there a few days ago while trying to cool it down before drinking it. Is it still safe to drink? Will it taste the same?
Keep reading to learn how wine can freeze in the freezer, when it’s safe to drink after it freezes, whether or not freezing changes it, and better ways to rapidly cool wine.
There are four main categories of wine: whites, reds, sparkling, and fruit wines. Winemaking starts with extracting juice from grapes (or other fruits), then adding yeast. Yeast converts the sugars, producing ethanol (pure alcohol) and carbon dioxide as waste products. Carbon dioxide is released (more on this later!) and alcohol remains. Finally, sulfites are added to prevent spoilage and oxidation, and wine is bottled.
Most of the differences between wine types derive from the fermentation process. Let’s discover what makes up each of the four main types of wines.
Between whites, reds, sparkling, and fruit wines, there are hundreds of varieties available for us to enjoy. Wines may vary in color, taste, alcohol content, or texture, but we all have preferences in favorites and unique ways to savor them. Wine connoisseurs have different opinions about how to enjoy each type of wine. Some say never to chill red wine, while others prefer it cold. French wine lovers put ice in their white wines while Americans cringe.
If you decide to enjoy your wine cold, there are many effective ways to chill it. But what if you need to cool it down quickly?
The short answer is yes, wine will freeze. But wine isn’t like water — wine freezes at a lower temperature than water due to the alcohol content and sugar.
Water freezes at 32ºF (0ºC), but ethanol freezes at a lower temperature. 100% ethanol freezes at -173ºF (-114ºC), but as we learned above, wine contains alcohol levels between 5-15% ABV. Therefore, the freezing point of wine is lower than water but higher than pure alcohol.
Wine’s sugar content also affects the freezing point. Sugar molecules decrease the freezing point of water because they interfere with the binding of the molecules. Wine contains both alcohol and sugar, which lower the wine freezing point.
An average moderately sweet wine contains roughly 12.5% ABV and has a freezing point around 22ºF (-5.5ºC). A typical household freezer should be set to 0ºF (-17.8ºC) or lower. Wine will freeze in a typical household freezer if left in for five or more hours because the freezer temperature is 0ºF and wine solidifies at roughly 22ºF. Frozen wine is an entirely different product (and no, we’re not talking about ice wine!).
We know that wine freezes in a typical household freezer, but does freezing change the wines’ taste, texture, or flavors (besides the obvious)?
Freezing wine changes wine's structure, flavor, and aroma — this happens when we defrost wine. As the temperature decreases, water molecules freeze and form ice crystals, leaving a concentrated solution of unfrozen alcohol, sugars, and acids.
Here’s what happens when these components separate:
A frozen wine bottle with an intact seal is safe to drink once thawed. It might taste quite different or not be as enjoyable, but it wouldn't hurt. If the wine bottle’s seal broke in the freezer, we probably wouldn't want to drink it — the wine may have oxidized and turned into an unpleasant, vinegary substance.
While knowing that thawed frozen wine is safe to consume is reassuring, we might wonder what to do with a fully frozen bottle. Let's explore!
Before we can do anything with our icy vino, we need to unfreeze it. If you’re wondering how to unfreeze wine fast, there are a few tricks you can try.
Never thaw a frozen bottle of wine under hot water, in the microwave, or in direct sunlight. This can cause the glass to shatter or explode.
Once our bottle is back in drinkable form, let’s get creative!
There’s no need to let a frozen bottle of wine go to waste! Here are some ideas of what to do with frozen wine:
Clearly, freezing wine comes with a long list of annoyances. Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to cool wine quickly without risking the bottle (or our safety).
Freezers might not be the best way to cool our wine, especially if we tend to be forgetful! So what are some better ways to cool wine?
If you intentionally freeze wine, the best way to freeze it is in ice cube trays or other freezer-safe containers. Liquids expand as they turn into solids. This expansion can cause the seal or bottle to break — that can mean shards of broken glass in your freezer. Never put sparkling wine in the freezer. It is much more likely to explode due to increased pressure from the carbonation.
Throughout this article, we learned that, yes, wine does freeze! A bottle of wine completely freezes after about five hours in a typical household freezer. The good news is that the frozen wine in the back of our freezers does not need to go to waste. If the bottle remains sealed, it is safe to drink once thawed.
1. Can wine freeze?
Yes, wine freezes but at a lower temperature than water.
2. Does wine freeze in the freezer?
Most wines will freeze in a freezer set to the standard temperature of 0 F (-17.8 C).
3. How long does wine take to freeze in a freezer?
Wine takes about 5 hours to freeze in a freezer.
4. Is it safe to drink wine that has been frozen?
Yes, but it might not taste super great!
5. Can I freeze sparkling wine?
Absolutely not. Bottles of sparkling wine are under increased pressure and are at a higher risk of exploding when frozen.
6. How do I thaw frozen wine?
Wine can be thawed by leaving it at room temperature, placing it in the refrigerator, or running it under room temperature water.
7. How can I cool my wine fast?
Putting wine in a bucket with ice water and salt will cool it in about 10 minutes.
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