# How long will bottled wine last at room temperature?



## abefroman (Dec 19, 2010)

How long will bottled wine last at room temperature?

~70 deg, maybe a little colder, in my basement.


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## Wade E (Dec 19, 2010)

Its not the temp mainly that determines how long it will last but rather if the temp is stable. Many people keep their wine at that temp as for the most part we cant afford elaborate cellar coolers and then there are lots of people who dont even have cellars. I would say if your using good #9 x 1.75 corks that most fruit wines will last around 3-5 years and red wines around 6-8 but thats just me guessing. I have cooler temps in my cellar as it stays around 58* due to being mostly subterranean and I have fruit wines in there from 2006 that are still awesome. Another thing that makes wine stay the test of more time is the abv. The higher the abv the longer it will typically stay good. Yeta few more are the specifics of the wine like PH and TA of the wine along with sulfites (SO2) There are just too many factors here that can limit or lengthen the cellar time but mostly the numbers above are about right.


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## BobF (Dec 19, 2010)

I would say tannins are another factor. I always use a bit of tannin in any wine I plan to have around longer than 12-18 months.


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## JohnT (Dec 20, 2010)

BobF said:


> I would say tannins are another factor. I always use a bit of tannin in any wine I plan to have around longer than 12-18 months.



Here, Here!!! 

You need to consider the big picture.. 

1) What is the level of Tannins in the wine?
2) What is the PH level of the wine?
3) Is temperature constant?
4) what is the temp?
5) what type of closure are you using (Synthetic, Screw Cap, High Quality Cork, Low quality cork)? 

I would say that a contant 70f temp is ok, but not ideal. A good quality wine, with strong tannins and the highest quality cork could last many, many years. I have wines that I made in 1993 that are still VERY tasty.


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## KSmith3011 (Dec 20, 2010)

The only thing not mentioned above is light and vibration. Keep the stuff dark and still while in the cellar. You can get inexpensive thermostats that will keep track of the current temp, high and low temp and relative humidity. They are nice numbers to refer to when selecting your cellar location.
I am amazed a basement in Chicago is 70*.


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## JohnT (Dec 20, 2010)

KSmith3011 said:


> The only thing not mentioned above is light and vibration. Keep the stuff dark and still while in the cellar. You can get inexpensive thermostats that will keep track of the current temp, high and low temp and relative humidity. They are nice numbers to refer to when selecting your cellar location.
> I am amazed a basement in Chicago is 70*.



Yup, forgot to mention that they should be kept in the dark and as humid a place as you can manage. Most basement (if below grade) tend to be OK for this.


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