The champagne is still safe to drink, but it's not that good anymore. Once you open the bottle, it should retain some of the bubbles for up to 5 days if refrigerated and sealed tightly. The champagne will be safe to drink for much longer.
These bottles should be stored on their sides in a wine rack or stacked the same way as in a cellar. Fine maturing Champagne, like all great wine, runs the risk of the cork drying out if it is kept upright for long periods.
Unfortunately, Champagne does eventually go bad even if you have kept it unopened in the refrigerator (or in a cool and dry place), but it will take a number of years before that happens. This doesn't mean it's no longer safe to drink, it just means that it will lose its lovely bubblies.
2000 isn't the best vintage of Dom (or a great vintage in general), but the Dom team did a nice job and slightly changed the style with the 2000. Most vintages of Dom go down like water when young and really need 10-20 years of post release aging to get good and interesting.
Unlike still wine, Champagne can be stored on its side or upright since the pressure inside the bottle will keep the cork moist and the seal intact in either case. The next best thing is a wine rack, which should be tucked away in a place that replicates these conditions as closely as possible.
The general consensus is that, unlike red wines, Champagne does not get better with age after you have purchased it. This is especially true with Non-Vintage Champagnes. The reason is that if you leave it for too long, it will lose its bubbles.
“If you're planning to enjoy your bottle of Champagne (or sparkling wine) within 3 to 4 days of the purchase, it is fine to store the bottle in the refrigerator,' Marie-Christine told Huffington Post. “But only keep it in the fridge for a few days, or else the bubbly will begin to change.”
STORING CHAMPAGNE – DURATIONThey may be opened between 7 and 10 years after purchase, or even later than that.
Across the board, however, good Champagne should smell like freshly baked bread with a hint of wet limestone. It's not uncommon for top-quality Champagnes to exhibit aromas of apple sauce, pie spices and pears, all of which are signposts of bubbly wine that's more than worth drinking. Then, there's bad Champagne.
The best thing you can do is keep the bubbly cold in your refrigerator—carbon dioxide is more soluble in cold liquids than in warm, so keeping the leftover bubbles well chilled will help keep your wine fresher and more bubbly than if you left it out on the counter.
What to Do with Leftover Champagne
- ? Make Classic French Macarons. Don't drink it, bake it.
- ? Turn It into Another Cocktail. Keep the party going by using those last few drops of Champagne in a new drink, like this American 25 cocktail from Tasting Table.
- ? Enjoy a Bowl of Mussels.
- ? Freeze Ice Cubes.
- ? Make Preserves.
When unopened, vintage champagne can remain good to drink for five to ten years from purchase. If the bottle is opened, you should re-cork it, store in a cool and dry place and keep it for three to five days.
In the past decade, 2002 and 2008 were exemplary and were considered outstanding years, with 2002 being more powerful – and in many ways, a bit atypical for Champagne – while the vintage wines from 2008 offered more acidity and arguably greater aging potential.
Additionally, non-vintage champagne has to be bottle-aged for 18 months at the winery, while vintage champagne has to be aged for three years.
In between pours, don't forget to use a good champagne stopper to preserve all the delicious bubbles! A stopper will keep your open bottle fresh for about 1 day, in case you don't finish in one sitting. 8. Many people think they should only enjoy Champagne as an aperitif but that it is not the only way to drink it.
No, they won't be ruined if you take them out of the fridge! In fact, if you leave them in the fridge too long, the cork will shrink and the champagne will turn to vinegar! Better to store the unopened Champagne in a wine rack until you are ready to refrigerate them for serving.
Go ahead and take them out. The stories you mayhave heard about champagnes “ruined” by re-chilling are mere myth. When your bottles are finally called back into service and re-chilled, they'll be just fine, assuming you haven't stored them in your hot car in the meantime.
