If I chill a bottle of Champagne but don't open it, can I put it back in my cellar?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
If I chill a bottle of Champagne or Prosecco in the refrigerator and end up not opening it, can I put it back in my wine storage? Or should I keep it refrigerated until I open it?
—Mark H., Columbus, Ohio
Dear Mark,
An unopened bottle of bubbly will be fine if you take it out of the fridge and put it back into the cellar, even if you had to do that a couple of times. Ideally, wines are kept at constant, cool temperatures, but it’s not as if some mild temperature variation will spoil the wine. Just avoid extreme temperature changes, which could compromise the cork and prematurely age the wine.
—Dr. Vinny

