[question] Question submitted by Brent Smith: If a high storage temperature for wine is adverse, will storing wine at low temp. (ie. 4-5 deg. C) preserve it in the absence of desired cellaring conditions? [/question] [answer] Storing wines at the sort of low temperatures you specify will slow down the rate of maturation. This might be a good thing if you are hoping to keep wines for about 100 years, and there are plenty of documented instances of wines that have been kept inside the cellars of Scottish castles or in shipwrecks beneath cold oceans that provide evidence that cold temperature storage will reduce the rate of maturation and decay of wine. Again, the important provisos are that the wines are kept on their sides (if sealed with corks), that variation between day-night and seasonal extremes in temperature is kept to a minimum, and that the wines are stored in the dark with a minimum of vibration. [/answer]
