Wine fridges and chillers
Once you open a wine bottle, and allow it to become oxidized, the liquid inside will inevitably start to ferment. This is the process which causes wine to ‘go off’, and become undrinkable. The best way to prevent this is to use a wine stopper in place of the cork, and also to purchase a wine fridge. The latter is only really necessary if you intend to have a number of bottles open at the same time, as it will allow you to store these correctly and prevent you from losing a lot of money through having to discard fermented wine.
Another good reason to have a wine fridge or wine chiller is that they can influence the final taste of the wine. It is important to realise that the actual flavour of wine will change depending upon different temperatures, and it is usually best served slightly chilled. Wine is usually kept in cold cellars before it is sold, and so keeping the wine cold is helping to replicate its flavour at the moment that it was distilled. Although wine which is too deeply chilled will often lose its most delicate flavours, with a specially designed wine fridge you can keep it at the perfect temperature, and experience all the flavour that a good bottle of wine has to offer.
If you want to have a wine fridge or chiller for your own personal use, then you should consider a number of different factors which can affect whether you enjoy your wine or not. For example, where you want to install the fridge or chiller will affect whether you purchase a free-standing or even a small counter-top wine fridge. You should also look at ones which have different temperatures in different parts of the fridge, as different types of wine are usually best stored at slightly different temperatures.
You may also wish to consider providing a lock for the fridge. This is necessary if you have small children, or underage juniors, in the house on a regular basis. Keeping minors away from alcohol by using a lock is a good idea, and it can also help to keep the temperature in your fridge constant. Some wine fridges also come with glazed areas, which should be tinted in order to prevent UV light affecting the oxidization of the wine, and ensuring that the inside of your fridge resembled the darkened cellar where the wine was originally produced.
You will also have to learn the important differences between wine fridges and wine chillers. A chiller is usually best used after the wine has already been chilled, and is there, essentially, to ensure that the wine does not gain temperature after it has been removed from the fridge. Many people simply put their wine into buckets of ice, but this can lower the temperature dramatically and rob the wine of subtle flavours. A wine fridge is intended for the long-term storage of wine, where the liquid can be kept for weeks or months without being affected.
