Text/Yo-Yo Kop said
Wine is often an indispensable presence at a feast. In recent years, people have paid more and more attention to the quality of life, and have begun to switch from drinking spirits such as white wine to drinking red wine.
The taste of red wine is sweet, with a slight astringency, as the saying goes, "the older the wine, the more fragrant", but this "wine" refers to white wine, because white wine has no shelf life.
But when you buy red wine, you will find that there is a shelf life on the red wine bottle, generally 10 years, so the question is: can you still drink the red wine that has been stored for 15 years? One thing we should first know before answering this question:
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" Why do red wines have shelf life >? </h1>
In fact, the shelf life is an explanation with our Chinese culture, just like milk will have a shelf life, in fact, in Western countries where red wine culture is prevalent, they call this the "best drinking period".
Red wine is different from white wine, there will be a large number of fermenting bacteria in red wine, turning the sugar in red wine into alcohol, and alcohol has an inhibitory effect on this bacterium. So the red wine will taste better and better as it is placed.
But it will have a peak, this change is called the "growth period", after reaching the peak will maintain this optimal taste for a period of time, known as the "maintenance period", and then the fermentation bacteria in the red wine will slowly begin to go "downhill" with the reaction, then the taste of the red wine will become worse.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > can red wine that has exceeded its shelf life still be drunk? </h1>
General shelf life of 10 years of wine, the best drinking period in the 3-5 years or so, and more than 10 years later, the sugar in red wine has been consumed, no longer produce alcohol red wine will slowly calculate, which very affects its taste, in fact, at this time the red wine has deteriorated, it is not recommended to continue to drink.
But for the world's top red wine, the fermentation bacteria in it are very superior, so the time to reach the peak of taste is relatively long, it may take 10 years, then the relative shelf life will be longer, it will reach 20 years or even 30 years.
Therefore, whether the red wine stored for 15 years can be drunk depends on the quality of the red wine, just like the famous 82 years of Lafite, its value can be called the leader in red wine, but it also has the best drinking period, and it will also enter a period of decline.
The best way is to observe before opening the bottle, whether there is a large amount of precipitation at the bottom of the bottle, whether the taste is sour after opening the bottle, if there is a statement that it has deteriorated and cannot be drunk, but if it is fruity, it means that you can continue to drink.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" how should red wine be stored after opening the >? </h1>
I believe that this is also a point that many small partners are more concerned about, the standard capacity of a bottle of red wine is 750 ml, it is basically impossible to drink it all at once, then there are 3 ways to store it:
The first: cork stoppers
This is actually our most common way, red wine is generally sealed with cork stoppers, if we can't finish drinking at once, the cork pulled out when opening the bottle is re-stuffed back, pay attention to be sure to stuff, do not let the air enter.
The second type: the cellar
This storage method takes longer than simply sealing with a wooden stopper, because the temperature in the cellar is suitable, there is no sunlight, and the temperature difference is relatively constant.
The third type: refrigerate
Didn't you think that red wine could also be placed in the refrigerator? In fact, like the cellar, the temperature is relatively constant, and after being refrigerated in the refrigerator, the taste of red wine will be richer.
In fact, these ways have commonalities, that is, avoiding light and constant temperature, which is also a standard for storing red wine, and it is recommended to put the bottle flat when storing, which can make the cork and the bottle mouth have a higher fit and avoid air entry.
At last:
Since 2008, China's "Food Labeling Management Regulations" have indicated that red wines with an alcohol content of more than 10% can not be marked with shelf life. However, some importers will still mark the shelf life in order to avoid trouble when declaring customs.
So in the market you will find that some imported red wines have shelf life, while others do not, do not rush to conclude that it is fake, because this is normal.
Today's topic: How do you store your red wine after each opening? Do you have a habit of collecting red wines? Welcome to leave a comment in the comment area to discuss.