# Frozen Wine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452 "2005-09-20T00:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/1 "2005-09-20T00:22:42Z")
What is the physical explanation for this phenomenon–If I put a bottle of wine in the freezer to chill and leave it in too long, the wine does not freeze until I open the bottle. How come? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/2 "2005-09-20T00:45:50Z")
I’ve never had that happen - I’ve successfully made wine slushies with full, corked bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/3 "2005-09-20T00:48:32Z")
I have never seen this happen but my WAG is that opening the bottle decreases the pressure and raises the freezing point of the wine almost instantly. [http://encarta.msn.com/text\_761555245\_\_1/Freezing\_Point.html](http://encarta.msn.com/text_761555245__1/Freezing_Point.html) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/4 "2005-09-20T01:15:47Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > I’ve never had that happen - I’ve successfully made wine slushies with full, corked bottles. Well, I suppose if I left it in long enough it would freeze before opening. I am not trying to get it to freeze, so I take it out before it does. Thanks **Shagnasty**. That could be it. Would the increased pressure that is lowered by opening the bottle be a result of the expansion of the liquid as it cools? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/5 "2005-09-20T04:11:51Z")
Bumping this in hopes of more info. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/6 "2005-09-20T04:49:10Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Bumping this in hopes of more info. I would assume it has something to do with pressure, although wine shouldn’t be under that much pressure, should it? FWIW, this happens to me a lot with carbonated drinks, where the liquid is cooled to below 0 C, but the pressure drops the freezing point to below this temp. Thus, once the can or bottle is open and the pressure returns to 1 atmosphere, your liquid instantaneously freezes. I suppose something like this is happening in your case. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/7 "2005-09-20T05:25:46Z")
**Shagnasty** nailed it. As the wine approached its freezing point the pressure increased in the bottle because the liquid tried to expand (part of the process of turning into ice). This in turn lowered the freezing point, so the supercooled (probably not the official term) liquid stayed liquid (but possibly with some ice crystals. Opening the bottle achieved two things: 1. Lowered pressure: Since the pressure inside was greater than the pressure outside, some of the air/wine pushed its way outside. This lowered the pressure of the wine so that its temperature was lower than its freezing point. 2. Greater volume: Being unconstrained the really cold wine then turned to ice, expanding even further in the process. It’s more impressive with sparkling wine, which is already under a lot of pressure. Assuming of course that your definition of “impressive” includes an exploded bottle and wine frozen mid-spurt. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/8 "2005-09-20T13:08:29Z")
The explanation I’ve heard for why bottled beer kept in the freezer only freezes as you open the bottle is that while sealed, there is no ‘crystal seed’ on which the ice crystals can start to form, so exposure to unchecked environmental air and the dust particles therein provide the crystal seeds to let it freeze. I can’t see this being the same for wine though, what with the sediment in there. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/9 "2005-09-20T18:38:53Z")
This happens to me all winter with bottles of soda (2L diet Coke) left in the car overnight. Some mornings, I pick it up, see free liquid inside, then open to find a solid slushy mess. I’ve always put it up to a massive decrease in pressure fiddling with the freezing point of the liquid. -Butler ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/10 "2005-09-21T12:44:19Z")
I cant believe its the pressure. You have to exert alot of pressure to drop the freezing point of water (about 9 degrees for 10 atmospheres). It is possibly supercooling. A lot of liquids can be cooled below their freezing points but do not freeze. A sudden movement can then dislodge so ice crystals somewhere and rapidly initiate mass freezing. There are commercial heating packs that operate on this principle e.g. see [http://www.saltypig.com/blog/2005/04/superheated-water-supercooled-sodium.htm](http://www.saltypig.com/blog/2005/04/superheated-water-supercooled-sodium.htm) ---
**Author:** ![chefjef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@chefjef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefjef)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/11 "2005-09-21T13:58:29Z")
I don’t understand this at all - but then again I don’t have a very good science mind. All I know is I, too, have made wine slushies in the freezer by accident a million times. Never experienced it not freezing until I opened it. Interesting to think about though -I like the thread! ---
**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/12 "2005-09-21T14:37:16Z")
This happens to me fairly regularly with the 64oz. Gatorade bottles as well. I throw them into the freezer for awhile to cool em down, and when I take them out, they are liquid, but if I shake them gently they instantly freeze fairly solid. Of course, if I left them even longer they would freeze by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![chefjef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@chefjef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefjef)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/13 "2005-09-21T14:49:16Z")
Oh now I’m even more confused! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/14 "2005-09-21T14:50:36Z")
> [@Viscera](#): > > This happens to me fairly regularly with the 64oz. Gatorade bottles as well. I throw them into the freezer for awhile to cool em down, and when I take them out, they are liquid, but if I shake them gently they instantly freeze fairly solid. Of course, if I left them even longer they would freeze by themselves. thats definitely supercooling. You are creating lots of surface in the liquid for nucleation ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-wine/322452/15 "2005-09-21T20:12:33Z")
I too believe that this is what’s going on. You all may be more familiar with superheating, which is a similar phenomenon that one often can observe by microwaving water. Bubbles, like ice crystals, need a nucleation site to form. Disturbing the fluid or pouring in your instant hot cocoa mix can often cause spontaneous (sometimes violent) boiling. We’d often see supercooling in glass water jugs on our back porch after cold nights. The water would be liquid, but a simple tap on the glass would result in rapid freezing.