Can wine freeze?

Wine absolutely can freeze — and if you've ever left a bottle in the car during a winter night, you probably know this firsthand. But the science behind it is actually pretty interesting.

Wine is about 85 % water, 12–15 % alcohol, and a cocktail of acids, sugars, tannins, and minerals. Each percentage point of alcohol lowers the freezing point by roughly 0.4–0.5 °C from water's baseline of 0 °C. So a 12 % ABV wine freezes at about -5 °C (23 °F), while a 15 % wine holds out to around -8 °C (18 °F). Fortified wines like Port (20 % ABV) won't freeze until below -10 °C (14 °F).

When wine freezes, the water solidifies into ice crystals first, leaving behind a concentrated liquid of alcohol, acids, and other compounds. This phase separation throws the wine's balance off. After thawing, tannins often taste harsher, acidity feels sharper, and the fruit flavours seem muted. The wine is safe to drink but rarely as enjoyable.

The physical risks are the bigger concern. Water expands about 9 % when it freezes, and that pressure has to go somewhere — usually out through the cork, or through a crack in the glass. A frozen champagne bottle is especially dangerous because you're adding freeze expansion to the 6 atmospheres already inside.

Fun historical fact: during the brutal 1956 frost in Burgundy, temperatures dropped to -20 °C and froze wine inside cellar barrels, causing massive losses. It prompted many producers to invest in better cellar insulation — a lesson that shaped winemaking infrastructure for decades.