Does an unopened bottle of red wine need to stay chilled if it is purchased chilled?!
Does an unopened bottle of red wine need to stay chilled if it is purchased chilled?
Answers:
Several red wines benefit from being slightly chilled, so for someone to say that red wine should NEVER be chilled is wrong. Beaujolais-Village and Tavels being good examples. Keeping wines slightly cooler than room temperature will help extend their lives in such that they will age at a slower rate. Leaving it exposed to sunlight and heat will age the wine at a faster rate, hence the reason red wine bottles are made with a darker glass in order to help filter out the sun.
It will not hurt a wine that is purchased chilled to be allowed to come down to room temperature. That being said, if this process is repeated numerous times (cold to hot to cold to hot) the wine will have a higher likelihood of being "damaged". Once or twice and you're just fine.