speaking of refridgerated restaurant wines...

[Randy Caparoso]

We are, in fact, saying the same things in different ways, but the implications are obviously different. So I apologize for any misunderstanding, or my usual dog-with-a-bone garrulousness.

This entire thread, of course, has evolved from a previous discussion about whether wine can or should be refrigerated for extended periods of time. Let me summarize:

1. It is patently absurd to believe that wine stored in refrigerators for more than 24 hours is likely to be harmed. It is obviously wrong to do long term storage in refrigerators, but there is absolutely nothing in anyone's experience that would suggest that wine is anything but kept alive and well by being refrigerated for moderate periods of time.

2. I'll grant you that tartrates can indeed increase in a restaurant unit. My point is that the period between winery stabilization and bottling and the time it takes to get delivered to a restaurant is usually so long, if anything tartaric crystals are usually formed well before we ever see them..

3. But a refrigerator is a refrigerator is a refrigerator. That means temperatures much closer to 40 to 42 degrees F. than 50. Fact is, there is no way in heck that any self-respecting restaurant in the land can get away with serving white, pink and sparkling wines at just 50 to 55 degrees. We'd get so many bottles sent back, or disgruntled guests sitting around waiting for their wine to be iced down, that we'd just look like fools. So refrigerate we must. We are, after all, in a service industry. Like it or not, that's what the vast majority of customers want, and that's what they get (I hope)!

[This message has been edited by Randy Caparoso (edited 09-30-99).]