Can I drink Rosé Wine after it has been frozen?

A great number of liquids are able to withstand sub-zero temperatures. When it comes to fruit juice and milk, there is very little impact. And with wine, as well. To other persons, taste differences may be more apparent, but even if the flavors have changed, the change will be minimal. For some people, advocating the freezing of a bottle that is less than half full is a method to keep it from rotting if the bottle is left open. Wine, no matter how frozen, is far from being dead. Wine that has been previously frozen should be stored in a cellar instead.

In this particular scenario, it is more important to address the seal on the bottle. Most wine is actually just water. As water freezes, it expands, which increases its volume. When squeezed, the cork is pressed up and out of the neck, providing a little space for air to seep in. In order to prevent the wine from getting ruined by air, drink the bottle as quickly as possible. Like with jar seals, which deform and fail if the frozen liquid approaches the rim, distorted screw caps also pose the same problem.

Another interesting fact: Freezing can create crystals of potassium tartrate in the wine. They seem like glass fragments, yet they are completely safe. The tartaric acid in wine precipitates when the liquid is cold, and when that happens, it mixes with potassium to form potassium tartrate. As a rule, the crystals fall to the bottom of the bottle. Occasionally, however, some of the crystals will stick to the freshly extracted cork.

It is important to let a wine to defrost at room temperature rather than in the trunk or in the freezer. Do not microwave it, since the cork is still in the bottle. To make matters worse, setting the timer on a microwave control panel to, say, two hours instead of two minutes could result in dealing with a large number of genuine glass crystals.