Anybody know how long champagne will keep if it is refrigerated?

[lpbk2713]

I've got a bottle of champagne I have kept in the refrigerator since late Y2K. I was certain I would get to drink it in November of that year. But that didn't work out and we all know why. So I left it alone. Didn't have the heart to open it anyway or to throw it out. Then when November 2004 came along I was sure I would get to open it up because Bush had proven to the whole world what a corrupt nincompoop he is. Wrong again. But now. NOW. I am certain beyond any shadow of a doubt I will at least get to open it this fall. It may taste like vinegar but after all this I will, at long last, have a sip of it anyway. I will drink to the rebirth of our country, the victory of my party, and the demise of the other party. I always had hope that things would turn around and at long last it looks like it just might happen.

[Fleshdancer]

1. since you refrigerated it, it will still be good

Pop the sucker open and enjoy! :)

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. Thanks for reminding me!

We;ve also got a bottle of champagne that we bought to celebrate Al Gore's win.
:toast:

[aquart]

3. Yeah, definitely drink it now.

You want a good drunk before reality sets in.

[Warpy]

4. It all depends on how well the cork is sealing it

If it has a natural cork, I hope you've kept it on its side to keep the cork wet and swollen inside the neck of the bottle. Plastic corks don't have that problem.

It will be OK unless oxygen has made it into that bottle. It might not be as good as it would have been in 2000, but it should be drinkable.

I keep cooking wines (all very drinkable) in the fridge long term with none of them turned to vinegar. I just keep the ones with cork stoppers on their sides and turned to make sure that cork is wet on all sides.

If either McCombover or Barr gets in, drinking flat vinegar will be appropriate. Hell, drinking cyanide might be.

[JDPriestly]

5. It depends on the quality.

[orleans]

6. (sounds like a question for the lounge??) n/t

[eShirl]

7. never been opened?

then it should continue to improve with age providing the cork isn't faulty

[Ferretherder]

8. Er, well, that all depends.

'It should continue to improve with age' MAY apply in this case - if the bottle in question is REAL CHAMPAGNE, from Reims and the surrounding Champagne region in France ; or one of the better California houses turning out great sparkling wine in the tradition of the storied French estates - or you may be keeping yourself a decent bottle of cooking or 'marinating' wine in a 'cool' bottle.

The problem with Champagne and other sparkling wines, as regards their ability to 'age', is that they are, by nature, not crafted for longevity. The wine spends a relatively short time on its skins and a relatively short time, if any, in the case of inexpensive sparklers, in oak barrels - thereby soaking up precious few of the tannins needed for aging. The very best French and American( and a few other )examples are crafted to hold up for some time, but I would say that a 'garden-variety' bottle of domestic bubbly would have a safe lifespan of about four to five years, TOPS.

Of course, you have to consider that this info comes courtesy of a guy who routinely drinks some of the cheapest crap 'out there', so what the fuck do I know, anyway.

ferret.