For The Love Of Port

Some like their Ports to age a bit quicker as they get older or their cellars are young and they raise their temps a few degrees. While others enjoy the glacial pace of aging Vintage Ports and keep them really cold. So please share your strategy and also your temperature setting.

Mine are all set at 55 degrees, mostly because that was the recommended temperature.

Mine is at 55-57 F. I chose this based on reading a number of opinions about red table wines. I've never re-examined this in light of my added interest in Port. I will watch this thread with interest.

57 degress F.

My plan was a dual zone walk in fridge for beer at serving temp and a wine cellar at 55 F. But as I look at the ideal location (so the beer kegs can tap through a wall to a bar on the other side), I'm not sure there is space for two temperature zones. I might just end up with one cold room at 45. That shouldn't hurt, but I'm led to believe it won't be ideal for the wine. It also throws a wrench in the humidity planning.

My offsite is 55 degrees and 70% humidity. My cooler at home fluctuates between 53-58 degrees depending if it's winter or summer and is normally in the 50-55% humidity. But the home cooler is stuff to drink near term, so the lower humidity is not a problem.

Eric Menchen wrote: might just end up with one cold room at 45. That shouldn't hurt, but I'm led to believe it won't be ideal for the wine.

That raises an interesting question - what exactly is the problem with wine being stored at low temperatures? I can see that you wouldn't want it to freeze but does anyone know the facts of what happens to wine stored at say 45 degrees compared with the usually accepted "norm" of 55?

Derek, If feeble memory is correct, I read in a book or wine magazine or maybe saw a Squires thread that storing wine in the 40's Farenheit slowed the natural oxidation process too much , which is what is happening when wine ages, with a slight movement of air through the cork. When wines are found in shipwrecks, they are sometimes still good because there has been no oxidation. Supposedly, the natural temperature of an underground cellar in the UK and most of Europe is 55-60 degrees and that temp has evolved as the best for aging wines. I don't know if it is coincidence or if wine making adjusted to tastes from the cellars' natural temp.
The lower the temp, the slower the oxidation rate.

I keep mine at around 57. The temp varies throughout the storage unit which is a walk in wine room, not a true "cellar".

Port takes long enough to age as it is. Why slow the maturation process down even more? I seen no benefit from 45 degrees, except with white wine which will throw more tartaric acid crystals than if the them was 10 degrees higher. I don't believe that the cooler temps will "hurt" Port ... just not help it.

Interesting discussion.
In southern Norway we have had temperatures down to - 20 degrees celsius (approx. - 4 F), for about 4 weeks.
As I have a natural cellar without any temperature control, my cellar temp has been down to 2 C/ 35 F.
Even though this is slightly scary, I am at ease, and hope the result only is delayed maturity.

The last few weeks there has been several discussions of the topic in norwegian wine forums.
The general opinion seems to be that the wine survives as long as it does not freeze. Any views?

Some even claim the wine can survive freezing... http://irreference.com/how-to-preserve- ... sommelier/

Thomas Tideman Holst wrote:Interesting discussion.
In southern Norway we have had temperatures down to - 20 degrees celsius (approx. - 4 F), for about 4 weeks.
As I have a natural cellar without any temperature control, my cellar temp has been down to 2 C/ 35 F.
Even though this is slightly scary, I am at ease, and hope the result only is delayed maturity.

The last few weeks there has been several discussions of the topic in norwegian wine forums.
The general opinion seems to be that the wine survives as long as it does not freeze. Any views?

Some even claim the wine can survive freezing... http://irreference.com/how-to-preserve- ... sommelier/

I use to have a cellar in my basement too. When the temperatures where around -30 to -20 in Quebec, the cellar was around 4 celcius. Yes it is scary! For a couple of reasons.
1- the volume of water in bottle does change with temperature and it does fluctuate a few degrees before reaching 0. I did lost 2 bottles where the cork simply pulled out due to higher pressure. these were bottle with 10+ years, I'd guess it was because the cork was not as tight as with younger wines.

2- Tartratic acid deposit. The tartratic acid witll crystalize when the wine drops below 6 celcius if I recall correctly. It will not return to its liquid state once your temperature is coming back to 10 celcius.

From my own experience, the wines were evolving faster in those conditions, at least for their structure. I felt they where losing their tannins faster and the acidity in the wine was droping. I was getting rounder wine faster, while still very drinkable, I'd be worried if I had the intention to keep them for 20+ years in this situation. Though some might say its good if you cellar loads of Australian bombs :)

I too have a natural cellar and the high temps can reach the low 60's in the summer maybe 4-5 weeks. I never had an issue with any wine and am not going to lose sleep over any fluctuations from the season. I think the cellar is probably around 50 right now. All the seasonal swings are very slow and over a decade in use I have been happy so far. I would like a room that I could take out of OWC's- some day.