Working under the assumption that you also think these wines are best at or before 10 years from vintage or release, what percentage of your collection is stored at 55 degrees? Do you ever think you’re wasting money on storage because these wines do not need 30 years of consistent temperature? This is simply an exploratory post, I’m not making any judgments.
Edit: Adjusted title to “Reds” to be more inclusive than just “Cab”
I don’t understand your premise. Would you store any wine at 70 degrees or above for an extended period just to save a few dollars? One heat spike over 75 and they’re toast, whether it’s a $10 bottle or a $1000 bottle. I’ve had some 10+yr old wines that were under $20, and my personal experience tells me that proper storage is worthwhile.
That’s certainly an advantage to living in a temperate or cool climate area where passive storage is an option.
I guess I’ve had good experience with leaving wine out at room temperature, even through Houston summers. Sure, the wine might creep up the cork more, but I’ve never had a leaker. I do keep most of my wine at 55, but I can’t fit it all so I have several cases in closets.
And exactly, Brent, passive storage is key to this question. I wouldn’t leave any wines in ambient temperature if I lived in Arizona, Nevada or Southern California.
I’m not sure I get the point. I drink MORE Cali reds than many, but still drink 50% old-world. I doubt many people drink 80%+ Cal here.
But even if someone did, what are their options? Presuming as you say that the wine is best at or before 10 years. What does one do for the (eg) 4-7 years from release? Wine can cook over a couple of hot summer days, so even in a shorter term one needs storage. One might need a little less than if one aged everything 20+ years, but one certainly needs plenty. I never thought of storage as not necessary or a waste.
There are a handful of people here I assume drink 80%+ California wine, and I’m really looking for their responses.
Sure, wine can cook in 5 minutes, but if one lives in NY, WA, OR, MA…if you never lost power and your house never got above 70 degrees…do you need your wine kept at 55 degrees if most of your wine is drunk within even 5 years of vintage?
Hmm. I’ll be interested to hear how many drink 80%+ Cal. But anyway, you have a valid point re. the case of never getting above 70 degrees, or at least not by a lot. I personally don’t live that way. We don’t run our a/c that much. If you could absolute max at 70 degrees, then no, I wouldn’t freak out. We have units at home along with the off-site, so it’s hard to imagine not feeling better about storing at 55-56 for $50+ bottles over five or even eight years.
I know, 80% is a ridiculous number. I tend to run at 95%. Any less and I’d have no self respect.
Even a year at 70 degrees is going to impact a wine to some degree. I drink my Cabs before 5 years of age generally and I wouldn’t dream of keeping them at room temp even if I didn’t already have a ginormous cellar for my European wines. 
I think get your point. I would never have more than 30 bottles on hand if I had a warmish passive cellar. I like my young garrish overly tannic and over-ripe wines undamaged.
I Drink 99% California. Anything less I would cut my throat.
I guess I could use your 80% number: 80% is younger than 2003.
For years I did not have a cellar and the wines were stored on a rack in a first floor room that had two south facing windows. Temperature in that room often got to the mid 70s and I never noticed any impacts to the wines over the short term. For the wines that I was keeping long term, I did build and insulated cabinet that held three cases to reduce the daily temperature swings but it was not actively cooled. I have had cal cabs (Etude, Insignia, Shafer HSS) that spent four years of there life in these conditions and have been fine at 15 years of age or longer as I am still holding some.
I do know that it is possible to cook wines in a short period of time but the temps need to be higher than the mid 70s. Back in 1993 or 1994 I made a very nice dry riesling and gave a few bottles to my now wife. Not sure where she kep them but she managed to cook them in about 2 months. The wines I kept in my apartment were fine and the apartment that I was living in at the time was the attic of an old house and daytime highs often got into the high 70s. These did not stay around more than 18 months as they were so tasty young so no idea how it impacted the long term life of the wine but even here temps in the 70s were not an issue for the short term.
The 55-58 is overhyped and driven by urban myths, primarily. Cali wine at 70 is fine. I’d like to see data otherwise if it’s out there.
Wines with brett as a big component, not so much.
Is this fishing or trolling? I get the two confused
Count me as a 95% Cali drinker. And I love my syrup at 50 degrees, if not cooler. Gets nice and sludgey
Trolling
I think that is more a passive cellar question than a CA wine question…While a ‘big’ red such as a CA cab or BDX might be a bit more resistant to temp, I don’t think there is any real ‘proof’ beyond anectodal experience that these wines have more resistance to damage if stored at an elevated temperature. Regarding temps, do a search on ‘passive cellar.’ This has definitely been discussed before, in some threads about cellar temps and cellar construction threads. Many people here have passive cellars, and the key to any passive cellar is avoiding big temperature spikes, particularly in very hot weather. A gradual swing from anything as low as the 40’s in cold weather up to 70 in warmer weather is tolerable, though I think anyone should be getting nervous once the cellar creeps up over 65.
Given these considerations, if you’d prefer to keep your cellar at 65 instead of 55 I don’t think your wine would be severely affected. I think 70 or above is pushing your luck.
I don’t agree with your assumption, but I’m personally not afraid to put any type of wine in my passive cellar for as long as necessary. It usually floats slow but surely from a low of around 52°F in February to a high of around 65°F in early August. My cellar is probably 60% Cali, 10% Oregon, and 30% France, Italy, and Spain right now.
I can answer this first hand, since my dad stored his wine in a section of his master bedroom for a while in racks, but not in a 55 degree cellar. We’re talking 1998-2010 or so. I’ve had a ton of wines from 1994-1999 that are in great shape relative to cellared bottles (at 55). I’ve not noticed that they are considerably more advanced.
My question to the OP is the opposite: If you have wines from 2005 in Bordeaux that are extremely tannic, why aren’t you storing those wines at 70 degrees to promote increased atomic activity, accellerated resolution of tannins, and marginally (and I do mean very marginal) accellerated aging?
<For years I did not have a cellar and the wines were stored on a rack in a first floor room that had two south facing windows. Temperature in that room often got to the mid 70s and I never noticed any impacts to the wines over the short term. For the wines that I was keeping long term, I did build and insulated cabinet that held three cases to reduce the daily temperature swings but it was not actively cooled. I have had cal cabs (Etude, Insignia, Shafer HSS) that spent four years of there life in these conditions and have been fine at 15 years of age or longer as I am still holding some.>
You may think there isn’t a difference but there is. I was at a tasting a couple of years ago and there were two different bottles of Chateau Montelena 1994’s, one had been stored in a passive cellar in a basement, the other in a state of the art wine temperature controlled wine cellar. The differences between the two bottles were profound, the passively stored bottled while it still was tasty wasn’t nearly as lively and delicious as the other. I use to store wine passively in the basement until buying a wine fridge and I notice the differences all the time and I will also say even when I had the passive I would put the bottle in a regular refrigerator for an hour or so before I served it. I thought it made the wine more lively and fresh, plus I like the initial chill from a red wine.
I drink mostly California reds, but outside of the Zins and historic field blends, I wouldn’t classify the majority as “modern” style (major holdings are Ridge, Copain, Rhys, Arnot-Roberts, Ceritas, Littorai, etc).
That said, my wines are stored passively in a home cellar that averages between 55 and 60 degrees year round. I have no concerns about aging.
For clarity, I think “Modern vs. Traditional” style is more descriptive than “California vs. French.” Many California wines are made in an old world style. Increasingly, many French wines are being made in a more modern style.
I wouldn’t say many but some
Overall CA is still modern and French is still traditional as a whole
That’s not my point, but I don’t disagree.