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Serve honey wine chilled, in a white wine glass. Once opened, keep it corked in the refrigerator and finish still bottles within about a week and sparkling bottles within a day or two. Unopened, it keeps for years in a cool, dark place.
Serving temperature
| Style | Temperature | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Sparkling | 40 to 45°F | Three hours in the refrigerator, or 30 minutes in ice and water |
| Dry and semi-sweet, unoaked | 45 to 50°F | Straight from the refrigerator, then 10 minutes on the table |
| Oak-aged, reserve, dark honeys | 50 to 55°F | Out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before pouring |
| Sweet and sack meads | 50 to 60°F | Cellar temperature; too cold and they taste only of sugar |
| Mulled | about 150°F | Steaming, never simmering |
Too cold hides aroma, and aroma is most of what honey wine has to offer. If a glass seems mute, cup the bowl in your hand for a minute.
Which glass
- White wine glass: the default. The tapered rim holds in the floral notes.
- Tulip: for sparkling. A flute looks festive but traps less aroma.
- Small dessert or sherry glass: for sack meads, which are poured two to three ounces at a time.
- Berele: the round-bottomed flask used for Ethiopian tej. Bee d'Vine sells one for $10, and it is a nice way to serve any honey wine at an Ethiopian dinner.
- Drinking horn or mazer: great theater, poor aroma. Save them for the party.
A standard pour is five ounces, which gives five glasses per 750 ml bottle.
How long it lasts once opened
| Style | In the refrigerator, re-corked |
|---|---|
| Sparkling honey wine | 1 to 2 days with a sparkling stopper |
| Dry and semi-sweet, around 12% ABV | About a week |
| Sweet meads, 14% ABV and up | 2 to 4 weeks or more |
| Fresh, unfiltered tej | A few weeks, and it will keep getting drier |
Oxygen is the enemy. Keep the bottle upright in the refrigerator with the cork pushed well in. A vacuum pump or a squirt of inert gas stretches a still bottle by a few days. Once a wine has faded, use it in the kitchen: honey wine makes an excellent pan sauce for pork or chicken.
Storing unopened bottles
- Somewhere cool, dark and steady. A closet beats the top of the refrigerator.
- Bottles with natural corks should lie on their side so the cork stays moist. Screw caps and sparkling bottles can stand.
- Room temperature is fine for months. For years, aim for 55 to 60°F.
- Keep it away from sunlight. Many honey wines are bottled in clear glass to show off the color, and light damages aroma.
Does it improve with age? Strong, sweet meads famously do, for a decade or more. Lighter, drier honey wines are generally released when the producer thinks they are ready, so there is no need to wait.
Does honey wine go bad?
Not in the way milk does. At wine strength, nothing dangerous grows in it. What happens instead is slow oxidation: the color deepens toward amber, the fresh floral scent fades, and nutty, sherry-like or bruised-apple notes take over. An unopened bottle stored badly can go the same way over several years. If it smells like vinegar or nail polish remover, pour it out. If it is merely a bit flat and nutty, cook with it.
How long homemade mead lasts
A homemade mead that fermented completely, was racked off its sediment and was bottled clean will keep for years, and most improve markedly over the first one to three. The risks are different from commercial wine:
- Refermentation. A sweet mead bottled without stabilizing can start fermenting again and build pressure. If a cork starts to push out, refrigerate the batch immediately and open the bottles carefully.
- Low alcohol. Session meads under about 8% ABV are less protected. Keep them cold and drink them within a few months.
- Oxygen from too much headspace in the jug during aging, which flattens flavor.
Our mead recipe covers how to avoid all three.
Serving it warm
Mulled mead is one of winter's better ideas. Warm a bottle of semi-sweet honey wine with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, a strip of orange peel and a slice of ginger, hold it just below a simmer for 15 minutes, and ladle it into mugs. The full recipe is in our cocktail guide.
Frequently asked questions
Should honey wine be chilled?
Yes. Serve still honey wine at 45 to 55°F, like white wine, and sparkling honey wine at 40 to 45°F. Richer, sweeter or oak-aged styles show better at the warmer end.
How long does honey mead last after opening?
Still honey wine keeps about a week in the refrigerator with the cork in, which is the guidance Bee d'Vine gives for its wines. Strong, sweet meads last longer, often a month or more. Sparkling mead goes flat within one to two days.
Does honey wine go bad?
It does not become unsafe, because the alcohol protects it, but it does oxidize. An old open bottle turns darker, loses its floral aroma and starts to taste like sherry or bruised apple.
Does mead need to be refrigerated?
Not before opening. Store sealed bottles somewhere cool and dark. After opening, always refrigerate.
What glass do you drink mead from?
A standard white wine glass is best. Use a tulip or flute for sparkling, a small dessert glass for sweet sack meads, and a berele flask if you are drinking Ethiopian tej.
How long does homemade mead last?
Properly fermented, sealed and stored, homemade mead lasts for years and usually improves for the first one to three. Low-alcohol or sweet meads that were not stabilized are the exception and should be kept cold.
Can you drink mead warm?
Yes. Mulled mead is a winter tradition across northern Europe. Warm it gently with spices and keep it below a simmer so the alcohol does not boil off.