I left a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for a year. Is it ruined?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
I put a bottle of Champagne in my fridge about a year ago and forgot about it. The bottle has never been opened, but I’m wondering if it’s still good to drink?
—Abodya, Toronto, Canada
Dear Abodya,
I think your bottle is fine. Food refrigerators can be too cold and too dry to keep wine beyond short-term storage, but the good news is that the carbonation in a bottle of bubbly keeps it nice and humid inside, so it’s less likely that the cork has dried out than it would be with a bottle of still wine. A dried-out cork could mean that the wine would start to lose its sparkle and oxidize, taking on nutty, tired notes.
You can leave your bottle in the refrigerator (but maybe not for another year, OK?), or take it out and put it somewhere else cool and dark until you’re ready to chill it.
—Dr. Vinny
