ironman

Mrs. Ironman and me got married 7 months ago, and we kept a few bottles of the champagne that was served at the reception so we can open them on future happy ocations like child's births, our wedding anniversaries, etc...
I'm a little concerned about how to storage it so when we are celebrating our 25th anniversary (God help us get there), we can drink a good champagne and not filthy vinegar. Any inputs will be much appreciated.

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Manic_Skafe

I've always found it's best if it's stored in your stomach but 5 mintues of google searching and I came up with this:

"All wines keep best in a cool, dark place with consistent temperatures around 55°F. Fluctuations of hot and cold can ruin a nice bottle of bubbly, and chilly extremes are just as harmful as high temperatures.

Don't keep a bottle of champagne chilled in the refrigerator indefinitely, waiting for a reason to celebrate -- by the time you pop the cork, it may not taste very festive. An article on storing wine from About.com recommends refrigerating champagne for no more than a couple of days. Return it to the somewhat warmer conditions of your wine cellar for longer term storage. If, like us, you don't have a wine cellar, the FAQ at Wine.com suggests that 45°F is the optimal temperature for both serving and storage. "

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020124.html

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the_marq

The only thing Manic left out is to store it on it's side, if the cork dries out the seal may be compromised. You don't want that.

Oh and unlike most wine, Champange, typically will not improve with age, but with any luck it won't get worse either. Good luck and congratulations.

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JJRousseau

Marq, I think you've got that backwards. Most wine is not meant for aging. Good Champagne will definitely improve with age. The question is, how good is the wine that the Ironmans are saving. If it wasn't made to age 25 years, it will be vinegar, regardless of how it is stored.

Ironman, do you remember the name (and vintage if there is one)?

the_marq

Nope. I don't think so.

Most wine being produced today is meant to be consumed as soon as purchased. People just don't have the patience to wait 3 years to drink a bottle of wine, I know I can't. So almost anything you buy today is going to be fine as soon as you get it home. However, virtually any wine (most noteably redwine) will improve with age simply by waiting as little as 6 months to a year. The reason is as I am sure you know, tannins. When a wine is very young the tannins molecular structure is like that of short little strings, as the wine sits in the cellar, these wee little strings bond together and become longer strings. It's these long strings of tannin molecules that give good strong red wines it's smooth mouth feel and complex flavours.

But I have digressed from the original champange conversation.

Champange, belive it or not is a red wine (sort of), it's made from a red grape tho I forget which one at the moment. So it does have a certain amount of tannins that will benefit from aging, however, not nearly as much as a dark rich cabernet or shiraz.

So in defense of my earlier comment, sure Champange might get a little better after a few years but not so much that it's really going to be worth the wait.

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JJRousseau

Umm, wasn't that my argument.

I wouldn't consider 6 months to be "aging a wine".

Champagne can be made from two red grapes and one white (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay) but can also be made from only Chardonnay. Regardless, you can get a Champagne for as little as $100 that will develop for 20 years. Some of the best will continue much longer.

ironman

Thank you all for your valuable inputs. We had our bottles standing up, now they're lying so the cork won't dry and spoil the champagne. We are not looking forward to have a better champagne in the future, we only want it to stay champagne and not to become vinegar.

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the_marq

Well it is to a lot of people.


I think we are basically in agreement, but I don't think the average 'casual' wine drinker has a wine cellar where he is willing to leave a bottle to mature for 20 years. 99.9% of us drink our wine within a week of purchase, anything beyond that is ageing to the average person. I think the longest I have held on to anything is 3 years.

So to recap, sure your Champagne might get a little better if you wait 20 years, but do you want to wait that long for a fairly insignificant improvment in what is hopefully already a pretty good bottle of wine?



***On another topic JJ, are you in Quebec? I am curious to learn more about the wines of that region as I am in western Canada and mostly drink what's local.

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