If you want to know how long it takes wine to freeze, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got some great tips that will help speed up the process. Before putting your wine in the freezer, ensure it isn’t broken. Also, use a towel to wrap the wine, so the cooling process is more efficient. This way, you won’t have to keep opening your wine to cool it down.
Does Wine Freeze?
Wine can be consumed after it has frozen. However, freezing wine shouldn’t be done all the time because it alters the flavor, especially red wine.
Your wine’s acid content transforms into insoluble tartar crystals when exposed to extremely low temperatures, which changes the beverage’s flavor. These crystals release carbon dioxide, creating a champagne shower-like “geyser” effect. As a result, it is best to avoid freezing wine if you don’t want that.
Additionally, a wine that freezes expands and could force the cork or bottle stopper out of the bottle. Since you won’t need to use a corkscrew or wine opener anymore, you might think that’s a good thing, but there are some drawbacks.
The possibility of the wine bottle cracking and injuring you is more serious. A wine that has been frozen may oxidize or develop freezer burn, both of which lower its quality.
How Long does it Take Wine to Freeze?
Around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, wine often freezes at a lower temperature than water (-6 degrees Celsius). However, several variables, including the size and form of the container, the wine’s alcohol concentration, and the freezer’s temperature, will affect how long it takes to freeze. In a typical household freezer, it can take several hours for wine to freeze.
Wine can be cooled in the freezer for between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on how much it has to be refrigerated from room temperature. Remember that most wines, even reds, should be served slightly chilled and can benefit from a brief chilling period before serving.
| % Ethanol | Freezing Point (°F) | Freezing Point (°C) |
| 0 | 32 | 0 |
| 10 | 25 | -4 |
| 20 | 15 | -9 |
| 30 | 5 | -15 |
| 40 | -10 | -23 |
| 50 | -25 | -32 |
| 60 | -35 | -37 |
| 70 | -55 | -48 |
| 80 | -75 | -59 |
| 90 | -110 | -73 |
| 100 | -175 | -115 |
How to Quickly Chill Wine in Freezer?
Depending on the desired serving temperature, wine can be cooled in the freezer for between 20 and 30 minutes from room temperature. To avoid over-chilling or unintentional freezing, which can cause the liquids inside the container to expand and break, it is always a good idea to set a timer.
Before placing the bottle in the freezer, cover it with a moist cloth for even quicker results.
What Temperature does Wine Freeze?
Around 15-20°F is when most wines hit their freezing point. The freezing point and time needed to freeze wine correlate with the alcohol level. The temperature needs to be lower, and the freezing time will be longer for stronger wines.
Generally speaking, the colder the temperature required to turn an alcoholic beverage solid, the stronger the alcoholic beverage. Visit this article I wrote to understand how to leave wine in a freezing car overnight mistakenly and what to do to salvage that wine.
What is the Purpose of Freezing Wine?
With one exception, I don’t believe freezing wine is a good idea. To refrigerate Champagne or white wine before serving is the justification.
Within 20 minutes, a freezer can quickly cool wine to the perfect serving temperature. Nevertheless, many frozen bottles were initially only chilled serving bottles that were abandoned. Just take care.
Does Freezing Wine Impact the Alcohol Content?
If the wine is thawed and drunk, freezing does not affect the alcohol content. Because alcohol freezes at a different temperature than water, which initially generates this slushy mix, if the wine were drunk while partially frozen, there may be a little shift in abv.
Although wine has a considerably lower freezing point than water, the water inside freezes because it is primarily made up of water, depending on the alcohol concentration, the average wine will freeze at 15-20° F. Generally speaking, the Temperature at which wine must be frozen must be lower the stronger the wine.
Some people say that wine’s alcohol concentration can be impacted by freezing. I haven’t come across any reliable scientific data to support this notion. The alcohol concentration correlates with the freezing point and the time needed for wine to freeze solid completely.
Although I can understand why some people might think such, freezing and thawing wine does not chemically change its composition or its ethanol levels. This might be the case, but there is very little scientific or anecdotal data to back it up.
Is Frozen Wine Safe to Drink?
It’s safe to consume frozen wine. The flavor and aroma notes, however, will suffer.
Take the time to chill an expensive vintage properly, therefore. You can then fully enjoy the wine’s flavor and subtleties.
Although it is legal to consume frozen wine, freezing can alter its flavor and texture. The wine expands when it freezes, leading to the cork or bottle cracking or the wine becoming murky. The wine may taste different and not be as pleasant to drink once it has been defrosted.
The wine’s flavor may also be impacted by the freezing process’ ability to separate the alcohol from the wine’s other ingredients. According to general advice, wine shouldn’t be frozen because doing so can degrade its quality.
Which is Worse for Wine: Cold or Heat?
Generally speaking, high heat can harm wine, whereas cold won’t. While overheated or “cooked” wine is thought to be a defect that can chemically alter the wine—often not for the better—chilled or frozen wine can frequently be gently brought back up to serving temperatures and enjoyed.
I’m here to inform you that heat ruins wine much more than cold does. Many people believe that freezing wine is far worse than keeping it in an excessively warm environment or heating it directly. According to scientific research by Pérez-Coello & colleagues in 2003 and by Scrimgeour & colleagues in 2015, storing wine at higher temperatures can hurt the wine.
Wine can be frozen, and as long as it is safely thawed, it should retain its consistency, flavor, and color. Contrarily, heat is completely different. Wine is severely harmed by heat. Even keeping a bottle of wine at a temperature of 10 degrees over what is advised can have negative effects.
Never use heat sources to warm wine while it is being stored, and never try to microwave or hot water a frozen bottle of wine. It won’t help anything; if you put hot water on the frozen wine bottle, it can explode or split.
Suitable Thawing Method & Duration
The simplest technique to effectively thaw wine that has frozen solid is to leave it to do so at room temperature. This is the best method to defrost wine.
Run it under cool or room temperature water to help hasten the process if you need it to defrost more quickly.
In all honesty, you shouldn’t have let the wine freeze in the first place if you need to thaw it away soon. Purchase another bottle; it will defrost much more quickly that way. Avoid using heat sources on the wine, such as hot water or microwave thaw.
This is a certain way to make your wine taste terrible. Find out if storing wine at room temperature for a long time is a smart idea here while we’re on the subject.
Four Reasons Why Wine shouldn’t be Frozen
Frozen wine can be safely consumed after being defrosted. But before purposefully freezing wine, take into account the following:
- Wine Expanses During Freezing
A bottle of still wine typically endures a journey to the freezer with little to no problems. Wine can, however, expands when it freezes:
Leak from the cork’s bottom up.
Pull out the pin.
Smash the bottle.
If you have a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine, don’t freeze it. The frozen container may explode due to the high atmospheric pressure, especially if you attempt to open it soon away.
Therefore, if you’ve neglected to defrost your bottle of sparkling wine in the freezer, do it in a private area of the house to prevent injury if the cork unexpectedly bursts. You might try to open the sparkling wine bottle once it has defrosted.
- Freeze-Dried Wine Can Become Vinegar
Air will rush in and oxidize the wine if the screw cap or cork pops out in the freezer. The taste of the opened wine will eventually resemble vinegar.
- Freezer Burn Could Occur
If oxidation starts, keep an eye out for freezer burn. When wine is opened and left out in the cold for a prolonged period, the water content is diminished, which causes freezer burn. The wine will become bland and vinegary as a result.
- The Flavor of a Wine Will Be Lost
The organic chemical components of the wine begin to crystallize when it is kept in the freezer. This treatment makes the wine taste flat, harsh, and devoid of the desired flavor notes.
Will Frozen Wine Fizzes Out?
A sizable amount of wine is made up of the liquid within. Wine bottles might explode as a result of water freezing and expanding. This does occur, although much less frequently than many people think.
Since the cork is the wine bottle’s most fragile component, it usually loosens or pushes out to make room for the bubbling wine. The pressure within a wine bottle might occasionally cause it to explode or fracture.
Conclusion
Wine will solidify in a typical kitchen freezer in around 5 hours. A standard kitchen freezer is about 0 °F. That is much below the freezing point for most wines. And for this reason, wines solidify quickly in ordinary freezers. If kept merely at its freezing point and not below, wine may never actually freeze solid.
This is because as the wine freezes, its water molecules do so first. Alcohol molecules are left behind as a result. The amount of alcohol in the unfrozen wine increases as more and more molecules of alcohol is left over throughout the freezing process.
The freezing point of the unfrozen part decreases as the alcohol content increases. Because of this, wine may become mushy rather than frozen solid. Therefore, store wine at a temperature below its freezing point if you want to freeze it solid.
