I've buried two 44Gal drums 5 foot under a shed with a small opening which will be insulated.
While testing seasonal temperature, and until I collect better vino, do you think putting cheap $5ish red wine with screw on tops will age ok and improve over a few years? Or a waste of time.
I'm thinking of up to 100 bottles of cheap $3 to $10 red that I know I like.
Any ideas?
@zzymurgy
Good advice.
That was one of my questions. A friend used to get $2 bottles of red corked wine once or twice a year. Any idea where to get this really throw out price wine.
I only really go to Dans, and 1stChoice.
Dan's have Gossip's Cab Sauv for $3.80 which is actually a steal, it's not great but it's probably worth at least $10.
Not sure you would find anything that cheap under cork these days though. It probably costs the winery $3 just to put the cork in the bottle.
I'll give it a try. For the price I like the Hidden Gem CabMerlot from 1stChoice $2.85 in six.
Screw tops are actually better than cork in many ways.
Yeah I was at a winery the other day and most of the wines were screw top. These wines can keep for up to 8 years.
As the top post states, you've got nothing to loose! Give it a go!
sure why not
Cheap booze is laden with preservatives, and as such has an expiry date before off flavour are developed
Cheap Will not get much better with age.
The good stuff does not have preservatives and under dark cool conditions the yeast wil continue to ferment the residual Sugars and develop the taste and character fo the wine.
I think the vast majority of bottled Australian red wines (90%) benefit from aging. This includes some sub $5 wines if they are well made, i.e. good grapes and oak barrel aged.
Red wine grapes are naturally tannic. On one hand tannin is a preservative and on the other hand it gives wine that bitter taste. Basically aging process allows tannin to settle down in bottle, and the bitter taste goes resulting in a better tasting wine.
To some degree, the more tannic/bitter the wine at start, the longer it needs to stay in cellar. If a wine drinks smmothly earlier on I'd not bother cellar it.
Looks like the idea is worth doing. Thanks everyone.
The two buried 44gal drum idea started as a test isolation tank with lead and other coverings, to see if the relaxed, healthier feeling of the bush could be recreated in the city.
Then later convert it to storage for wine and bulk foods maybe, if seasonal temperature ranges are reduced enough.
No idea how it'll go, but it will only cost $50 or so to try. Haven't tried google to research this, but the jobs half done.
Can't really say until you try it. Some will be amazing, some will be awful.
You've got nothing to lose if you're only burying the old 2-buck chuck.
But you would probably have to wait 5-10 years before you saw any noticeable difference in taste.