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Steven Coulson
Steven has been drinking beers, wines and spirits for decades and has a propensity to go about them at length after a few drinks.
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- 57/m: Love beer, but it doesn’t love me as much anymore
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Potential Disaster Averted: My Experience with a Heat-Damaged Wine Collection
About four months ago, I found myself in a precarious situation when my wine cooler malfunctioned, raising the temperature of my cellar to a staggering 113°F (45°C). This unfortunate turn of events left many of us wondering how my prized $60,000 wine collection fared after such extreme conditions.
I’m writing today to provide an update for those who have been curious about the fate of my wine. To my pleasant surprise, the outcome has been much less catastrophic than I initially feared. I have shared the affected wines with family, friends, and even the winemakers themselves, and thus far, there has been a consensus that none of the wines have suffered any noticeable decline in quality. When the very creators of the wine can’t detect any issues, it gives me great confidence in their integrity.
Reflecting on the situation, here are some notable observations I made during this ordeal:
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Diam Corks Perform Exceptionally: The primary challenges I encountered revolved around cork quality. The wines with natural corks showed signs of being more adversely affected—drier and more prone to leakage. Several natural wines raised red flags as the corks appeared to be pushed out slightly, yet upon tasting, they revealed no problems. In stark contrast, the Diam corks maintained their integrity remarkably well. They dried out only slightly and were the first to regain stability once I addressed the temperature and humidity levels.
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Minor Losses: Out of the entire collection, I lost just two bottles. Interestingly, both were from the same batch of no-sulfite-added natural white wine, which suggests that the absence of preservatives might have heightened their vulnerability.
While it will take time to fully ascertain the long-term effects of this incident, I am content to report that, for now, it seems my collection is safe. So, for anyone wondering about the future of their collections, I can confidently recommend keeping an eye on your wine storage conditions, but also to take heart—sometimes, things turn out better than expected. As for me, I’ll continue to enjoy my wine, one glass at a time!
This post is also cross-shared on r/wine and r/winemaking. Cheers!