Alot of reasoning behind the refrigeration is due to no pres. in the juice. Straight pressed juice without the addition of some acid will discolor very quickly. This is due to oxyidation occuring. Without vaccum packaging the O2 will deteriate the juice without the reduced temps.
In the fermentation process the O2 is used by the yeast. The CO2 blankets the carboy as it is heavier than O2. The O2 then is pushed out first. So when your racking the cider, wine or mead off it is very important to not splash it around as we want to keep the O2 out. When the cider is bottled or any brew is bottled for that matter, that is why we want to keep very little headspace. I have cider sitting in bottles for months but try to keep them as I do with any wines down around the 68 range. Just remember most ciders are only going to be 5-9% ABV and this is not enough to maintain a long term storage. Six months should be okay but I never have any left that long!!