Are your wines cool under the collar?

For most consumers, wine is served two ways. White wine is chilled in refrigerator, until "cold". Red wines are served from room temperature. You may want to know why, or if this is a correct rule.

Serve a wine too cold, and you have masked aromas and flavors, and highlighted its bitterness. Serve a wine too warm and you have made the wine seem flat and harshly alcoholic. The "expert" guidelines are as follows: Sparkling Wines and Champagnes, and young sweet white wines are served about 40-50F degrees, Rich full bodies whites like Chardonnays and French Burgundies are better served around 50-55F degrees, And the "other" whites can be served around 43-53 F degrees. Lighter red wines like Beaujolais are best served at 50-60F degrees. Bolder reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Rhone, Shiraz, and Bordeaux, are better served 62-67F degrees. "Other" reds like Pinot Noir and Burgundies are best served in the 55-65F degree range.

These are guidelines, not the ultimate law. Keep in mind, the colder the wine is the more you mask what is really going on in the wine. Cheap Chardonnays should be frozen, just kidding. However, know that if you have company over and spent a few extra dollars for the good stuff, keep it slightly warmer than you would your box wine. Also, I know few homes that keep a room temperature of 62F degrees. Having said that, don't boil your reds for your company. Drink a current vintage Red Zinfandel at 80F degrees, and all you may experience is HOT alcohol, robust tannins, and a wine that is very unbalanced.

Okay, so you just learned that you have been drinking your whites too cold, and your reds too warm. What do you do now? Easy, for Champagne, put it in the freezer 30-45 minutes before hand. Chardonnay can be put in 25-35. Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer can be put in 35-45. If you have more time, put a white in the fridge for 1-2 hours. So now do I run my power bill sky high and wear coats all summer long just to serve my reds at the right temperature? Easily enough, put the red in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Just enough to cool it under the collar! Play with these times and temps to find what suites you best. Always remember, you are in control of the wine, not the wine in control of you!