What Happens If You Put A Bottle Of Wine In The Freezer?

While there aren't very many reasons to put a bottle of wine in the freezer to begin with, it's important to understand what will happen if you do. Perhaps you've committed a common dinner party faux pas and forgot to chill your wine with no backup plan. Maybe you're experimenting with the best way to make frosé or wine slushies, and want to save a few steps. 

Regardless of your motivation, the wine in your bottle will eventually freeze solid, becoming weirdly icy and oozy, because the water in the wine will freeze before the alcohol does. That means if you try to pour yourself a glass after about four hours, you'll get something that resembles your favorite three-ingredient wine slushie but tastes much worse. Freezing causes the wine to separate and taste diluted, flat, or even bitter.

Another reason it's inadvisable to stick your vino in the freezer is that it's actually dangerous. As the water in the wine freezes, it forms ice crystals that expand inside the bottle, which can cause the seal to break, pop the cork, or even shatter the bottle. Carbonated wines are particularly prone to exploding because the bottles are pressurized, so they should absolutely never go in the freezer.

Though you should absolutely never put a glass bottle of wine in your freezer, there are some cases in which it's okay to freeze your wine, and some of them actually have some pretty tasty cooking applications. For instance, you can freeze leftover wine to add to meals later on, provided you don't put the whole bottle in there. Pouring your wine into an ice cube tray portions it out into small servings you can slip into sauces and stews, where the altered flavor isn't as notable. These cubes can also serve as the base to a wine slushie, provided you're okay with any changes in flavor, or are prepared to cover them up with simple syrup and lots of fruit.

You can even take things a step further and use up those last few ounces of wine to make summery cocktail-inspired popsicles as a boozy treat when the weather gets warm. Again, you'll want to compensate for changes in flavor — for instance, you may want to mix a sweet Riesling with peach puree and vanilla syrup, or combine shiraz with frozen raspberries, fresh mint leaves, and lemon syrup. You'll also get the best flavor possible by opting for less expensive table wines rather than higher-end blends, as the more expensive wines have subtle, delicate flavors that will be destroyed when frozen and thawed. That means lighter-colored wines retain more of their original flavor and character, making them better suited for frozen desserts.