Another taste test...

[winoweenie]

OK BK here's my take on your problem. I personally think it's a crap-shoot as I've found in my experience that humidity is more important than exact temp control. What happens is the corks keep using the juice to keep moist, then the wine level decreases to the point that the drying corks allow air into the bottle and Whamsy!, the juice spoils. As usual there are exceptions I have even seen first-hand....I found a bottle of 66 Remossinet Burgandy that looked like it was stored in an abandoned fridge . The fill was a 1/2 inch below the neck and the color of the juice was saddle-brown...Turned out this was one of the most exciting bottles I'd experienced. So here's my suggestion. Instead of gambling 900 bucks on a case, buy 2 or 3 MAGNUMS for the kiddies, put them suckers away and then make the lil' ingrates share on opening if they come thru. Think you'll have a better chance with the larger format. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! WW ( By-The-By, my son lives in Minneapolis. It's by choice so he's kept me from receiving the "Father of the Year " award for his choice of habitat )