Can I put wine in a 34 degree cooler for about 3 weeks and then put it on a shelf at 56 degrees?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
Yours is a variant of an ever-popular question. First, I'm intrigued by a wine cooler which can be set at 34 F, or nearly freezing. Is this a standard refrigerated cabinet or something else? Also, where exactly is the shelf - in a cool basement? Common wisdom holds that the "sweet spot" in terms of temperature for long-term wine storage is somewhere in the the 50's F, but that's not a rigid rule. If you are keeping wines near (but not below) the freezing point, however, they will surely age very, very slowly. Putting these questions aside, I don't see any likely harm in moving wine from the lower temperature to the higher one unless you are speaking of very old and therefore more fragile vintages.
