Sometimes it’s nice to be able to just kick back and enjoy a nice glass of wine. It’s great to buy a fancy bottle of wine now and then, but sometimes you want to be able to enjoy wine without spending too much cash.
This is why boxed wine is so popular among many people. It’s a cost-effective type of wine that you can get at many grocery stores, department stores, and elsewhere.
If you’re worried that the boxed wine is going to go bad before you have the time to drink it all, then you might be wondering if there’s something you can do to get it to keep for longer periods of time once the box has been opened. Can you freeze boxed wine or is that not a good idea?
Keep reading to learn whether you can freeze boxed wine or not. You’ll also be able to get some tips for storing boxed wine so that you can have the best experience possible.
You Definitely Can Choose to Freeze Wine
If you want to freeze your wine, then you can definitely do that by simply placing it in the freezer. However, freezing wine isn’t necessarily the best idea for a couple of reasons.
The biggest reason that you should think twice about this is that freezing the wine might make it taste worse when you go to drink it again. A lot of the flavor will be taken away, and this is going to make your boxed wine less enjoyable than it would be if you simply refrigerated it.
For the most part, people look into freezing wine because they want to be able to drink it at a later date. You might have bought too much boxed wine, and maybe you even know that it isn’t possible to finish it before it goes bad.
It does make some sense to freeze the wine under these circumstances, but you might not get results that you’ll be happy with. The wine won’t be bad or something that will harm you, but it won’t be as good as you remembered it being.
There’s also some merit to freezing boxed wine if you intend to cook with it at some point. The wine that has been frozen might not be ideal for drinking any longer, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get good results when cooking with the wine.
In fact, some people will even pour boxed wine into ice cube trays so that they can cook with the wine when necessary. You don’t need to do that since you can freeze wine in its box without having any issues, but this is just to show you that freezing boxed wine isn’t out of the question.
Whether you should do this really depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. If you plan to drink the wine later, then you might want to think twice about freezing the wine.
Otherwise, it should be fine to go through with your plans. Keep reading to learn more about boxed wine as well as what other storage options you should consider.
Boxed Wine Can Be Put in the Refrigerator
Before you decide to throw your boxed wine in the freezer, it’s going to make sense to consider putting it in the fridge. Boxed wine keeps rather well in a refrigerator, and it’s actually going to last longer when refrigerated than it would when left out on the counter.
Generally, boxed wine should be able to last for around three weeks in your refrigerator. Most people who enjoy wine will be able to drink the box in that amount of time, and this is especially true if you aren’t drinking it alone.
Once the box has been opened, it should stay good for about a week and a half. You should only open the boxed wine when you know that you’re going to be drinking it.
The relatively short life of the boxed wine should be taken into account. After you open it, you’ll have a week and a half to finish it up.
Of course, no one is going to be finishing a box of wine in one sitting. This is meant to be enjoyed over the course of a week, and you should be drinking it along with other people.
It’s not advisable to try to drink a lot of wine in one sitting even if you’re worried about it going bad. You’d be better off throwing the boxed wine out than you would making yourself sick.
Another thing to keep in mind is that red wine tends to stay good for slightly longer than white wine. Depending on the type of wine that you bought, you might have a little longer or a little less time to finish it up.
There should be the equivalent of about four bottles of wine in one box of wine. That’s a lot of wine, and it’s why many people don’t buy boxes of wine unless they know they’re going to be having dinner parties or drinking it with other people in their homes.
Boxed Wine Should Be Safe in the Freezer for Some Time
Assuming that you chose to freeze the wine, it’s good to know that boxed wine is safe in the freezer. You can’t freeze bottles of wine because the bottle will wind up breaking when the wine freezes.
You see, the freezing process is going to cause the wine to expand, and the bottle will wind up bursting. If you open your freezer to find a broken wine bottle one day, then you’ll know that you made a mistake to place a bottle of wine in the freezer.
Most wine enthusiasts will tell you that wine should never be frozen, but boxed wine is going to do a lot better in the freezer than bottles. The boxed wine is contained in a bag inside of a box, and the bag allows for some expansion to occur.
It’s unlikely that the box will explode and make a mess in your freeze, and this means that you don’t have too much to worry about. Never freeze bottles of wine and only freeze boxes of wine if you truly believe that it’s the best course of action.
Thaw Your Wine Properly Before Attempting to Drink it
You’ve already been made aware that your wine won’t taste as good once it has been frozen. However, it’s also imperative to ensure that your wine thaws properly before you try to drink it again.
If the wine isn’t thawed out completely, then you should avoid drinking it. Be patient and wait for the wine to finish thawing out before you pour yourself a glass.
The quickest way to thaw wine that has been kept in the freezer is to just leave it out on the counter for a few hours. Once two hours have passed, the wine should be thawed out enough for you to drink it.
Hopefully, the wine tastes okay enough for you to enjoy it, but it might not be amazing. It’ll be much worse if you try to drink it before it thaws completely, though.
Some People Use the Freezer to Chill the Wine
You might just want to chill your wine as well, and that should be easy enough to do with boxed wine. Placing the boxed wine in the freezer for a little while will allow you to get it closer to the ideal temperature.
Wine freezes much faster than water because of the alcohol content, and you need to be careful not to accidentally freeze the wine while trying to chill it. Don’t keep the wine in the freezer for too long or you’ll wind up needing to thaw the wine out instead of being able to drink it chilled.
If you wish for your wine to be lightly chilled, then you should keep it in the refrigerator for about 42 minutes. Fully-chilled wine takes about 55 minutes in the freezer, and you won’t want to let it stay in the freezer for longer than that.
So long as you’re paying attention, it should be easy to chill your wine like this. Some people take the wine bag out of the box and try to chill it in the freezer that way to speed the process up.
If you take the bag out of the wine box and place it in the freezer, then it should take about 25 minutes to become fully-chilled. If you’re in a hurry, then this is a convenient little life hack to remember.
Some people find it to be too risky to put the wine in the freezer at all, though. There’s always the possibility that you’ll forget about things and leave it in the freezer too long, and it might be best to use another method.
You can chill boxed wine using a bucket of ice and cold water. Just place the bag of wine in the bucket and it’ll become chilled fairly quickly.
Using chilled grapes is another nifty idea that could add something to the overall experience. Freezing grapes that can be used as ice cubes will allow you to enjoy chilled wine without much of a hassle.
Some people have even put wine in snow to get it chilled and ready to serve. You have quite a few options available to you if you don’t feel comfortable using the freezer.
That being said, using the freezer to chill wine is a totally viable method that you don’t need to be afraid of. If you’re worried about messing up, then just set a timer so that you can take the wine out of the freezer when it’s completely chilled.
Is Freezing Wine a Good Idea?
Most people would tell you that freezing wine is not a good idea, and you should only do it if you feel it is absolutely necessary. Freezing your wine could help you to make it last for a longer period of time, but it might also degrade the quality of the wine.
You want to be able to enjoy the box of wine to the fullest, and this might hurt your enjoyment instead of making things better. It’s probably going to be better to store wine in the fridge and to make an effort to drink the wine before it goes bad.
If you don’t believe that you will be able to drink a box of wine in three weeks, then you should probably consider buying less wine. Perhaps a bottle of wine would be better since there won’t be so much to consume.
Storing wine in the freezer when you want to utilize the wine for cooking might be sensible. There’s also nothing wrong with running the risk of freezing the wine when you wish to drink it later.
After all, this is your wine, and you get to choose what you do with it. You know that the potential is there for the wine to degrade in quality due to being frozen and thawed, but sometimes you might have to go for it.
The important thing is to be able to make a decision that you’re comfortable with. You’ve been empowered to do just that with this information.
Final Thoughts
You know everything that there is to know about freezing boxed wine now. There is a lot to consider, but you’re going to be able to make an informed decision based on what you just read.
Boxed wine is great for parties and many people love having it around. If you’re worried about your boxed wine going bad before finishing it, then freezing it is a possibility.
Refrigerating the wine is going to be the best thing to do to keep the wine fresh and tasty, though. Just keep this in mind and then do what you think is best.
Hopefully, your wine is going to be refreshing and flavorful for whatever dinner party or social event you have planned. Even if you’re just planning a cozy night in, it’s going to be nice to have access to some good wine.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys, and I’m so excited to start this adventure with them! In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.