So I will be visiting the Southwest early this September, during which it might still get warm. (Absolute temperature-wise, that is, not counting the but-it’s-a-dry-heat factor.)
How long should wine last in a car before it goes bad? I’m only going to be out there for a week before I meet my relatives and break open some wine, but I’m wondering if it will keep good for that amount of time. Wikipedia is very vague on this, only stating that above the mid-70’s definitely is contraindictated, but doesn’t give specifics as to how long it takes to make a noticable difference.
Ice chest. Anything else is just asking for it. Trunks get mighty hot, which is not only bad for the wine but can also make the wine expand, pushing it out past the cork.
Yeah, no way I’d leave it in the trunk for any length of time. Just keep it in the passenger area, or in an ice chest.
What specifically are you going to do with the wine? Are you bringing it with you? Expect to buy while you’re there? Bringing it back? I guess I’m wondering why you can’t just run to a store on the day you plan on meeting the relatives and buy a few bottles.
Even an hour or two at a temp above 90 or so is going to cook your wine or ‘madeirize’ it, which will, not surprisingly give it the flavors reminiscent of Madeira or Sherry.
It doesn’t take long at all. I found out the hard way years ago while out tasting and purchasing on a very hot day.
I’d left a bottle in the car, not the trunk, and had lunch somewhere along the way, just a tiny bit concerned that the temp was really creeping up. My girlfriend brought her goodies into the restaurant with us to be safe, but I figured an hour or so without AC wouldn’t be too awful. I was wrong. I opened that bottle within a week to see if it had cooked, and sure enough, it had.
Drink it with friends. I’m not sure that I can find that specific type of wine near to where I am going to be. (Cru Beaujolais, FWIW. Of the types I’ve tried, only Cote de Brouilly and Moulin a Vent are worth going out of the way to bring, and since I don’t know if my relatives like Cru Beaujolias, Moulin a Vent tastes similar enough to other wines that it would be a happy medium. A web search revealed that some places in the area carry Cru Beaujolais but not all varieties. Not sure at the moment which they do have.)
When I bring wine with me on a trip, it gets treated like it was a pet or a child. It stays in the temperature-controlled car with me, gets brought into the hotel room at night, etc. etc. Like psycat90 said, it doesn’t take very long to ruin a wine.
I was going to bring it with me but I guess I’m not now. I’m going hiking before I’m meeting my family and there’s no way even a cooler would prevent it from getting warm.
Good idea. Spec’s Liquor Warehouse is a giant Houston store with a huge selection of wine, beer, liquor, fine food & cigars. The wine prices are excellent–but there are definitely some high-end options.
There’s a big sign at the entrance warning everybody to protect their wine purchase. Essentially, put it in your air-conditioned car & drive straight to your air-conditioned house–or to a friend’s air-conditioned house…
September is still *hot *here. Not a dry heat, but that “it’s a dry heat” claim is meaningless for your purpose…
Exactly. Absolute temperature is what matters, yet further inland where I’m going, it will still reach wine-critical temps but if I didn’t put in that disclaimer I was thinking someone might come in and say “but it won’t feel that warm!”
As someone who left a big bottle of (admittedly) cheap red wine in the trunk of my car for a week at the end of August last year only to discover, upon driving to new son-in-law’s aunt’s house to deliver it, that it had exploded out its cork and soaked my entire trunk in cheap, red wine…do what everyone above is advising you to do!