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Approximate number of wine estates that employ Michel Rolland as their consultant, including many of the most exclusive wineries in the world. Based in Bordeaux (but often found on an air plane), Rolland is the most influential (and expensive) wine consultant in the world. His clients are spread across 14 countries from India to Brazil, to the U.S. Rolland also owns multiple estates in Bordeaux and joint ventures in South Africa, Argentina and Spain.

It’s okay to put wine in the freezer to chill it down quickly.

Answer: True.

But I wouldn’t do it with an old or fragile wine. Wine can be chilled down in the freezer quickly, but since its mostly made out of water, (roughly 84% to 88% H₂O), it can freeze. The alcohol content in wine (generally between 11% and 15% abv) causes wine’s freezing temperature to be considerably lower than water, still it’s best not to leave a bottle in the freezer for more than 30-40 minutes. Flavors and aromas in wine may be altered if a wine is accidently frozen, and worse yet, the wine can expand in the bottle and explode if its left for too long.

“Age gives a wine a sense of beauty and satisfaction that it could never have had before when it was young. In our minds, we intuit that beauty and satisfaction as a feeling of completeness. Because so much of life is incomplete, an old wine is remarkable and moving.”

—Warren Winiarski,
founder of Napa Valley’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

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