After a party, still had a few unopened bottles of chardonay in the fridge. Can they be taken out of the fridge and stored at room temp? Or once chilled, do they have to remain chilled?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
Questions about how best to store wines are probably the most popular of all on LWE, so you may want to look back over past questions and my answers as you may find them helpful. To address your particular query, the best approach is to remove the wines from the fridge and keep them on their sides (if the bottes have a closure made from cork) in a dark location with a stable, cool temperature. The longer you intend to keep the wine, the more you should try to respect these guidelines. A refrigerator is in fact not a good place to keep wine for lengthy periods since light, temperature and humidity fluctuate under normal usage. By all means, don't worry about returning the bottles to room temperature after they have been refrigerated. Only radical changes - such as from cold to very hot - would be of concern for all but the most fragile of old vintages.
