WineWIMB - I have started chilling red wine. Is it wrong?

[Rich]

A useful and informative post.

Who are you and what have you done with Richard?

I was invited to a friend's for dinner last week and to my horror found that he had been storing his wine in a CONSERVATORY! This was at the start of the heatwave and when I stepped in to browse through his collection, the heat hit me square in the face. Must have been upwards of 40c in there. As a result, I had to sit him down for a long hard chat about the dangers of heat strike in wine. The temperature that your wine is stored at is just as important as the temperature that it is consumed at - hence the requirement for a cellar.

[Burney]

I gather that you mean in your wine cooler? If so, there is no issue with that at all. In fact, there is a common misconception about the temperature that a bottle of red should be enjoyed at. The school of thought that it should be at 'room temperature' stems from a time when the average temperature of a building was far cooler than it is today; in part due to poor insulation and also the lack of heating.

Anyway, you should really ensure that your cooler is reading somewhere between 12 and 18 degrees celcius. Top end of the scale for a powerful and full bodied wine like new world reds. Then the lighter on the pallette the wine in question is, the closer to 12c you should chill it to.

Hope this helps.

This is all correct. I have been chilling my light, fruity Spanish reds during this ghastly hot weather.

[Burney]

A useful and informative post.

Who are you and what have you done with Richard?

Yes. Although, it's hard not be a trifle concerned that a doctor should prove unable to spell 'palate' correctly.

[World's End Stella]

Makes the appalling grog I can afford taste half decent.

Depends on the grape but the only real reason to chill red wine is the one you are using, because you buy ****e wine and that's the only way it's palatable.

Beaujolais is decent slightly chilled, if you must Herb.

[PSRB]

Makes the appalling grog I can afford taste half decent.

Does rather depend on the red, imo. Fleurie, Brouilly or any Beajolais for that matter, are all better chilled

[World's End Stella]

I gather that you mean in your wine cooler? If so, there is no issue with that at all. In fact, there is a common misconception about the temperature that a bottle of red should be enjoyed at. The school of thought that it should be at 'room temperature' stems from a time when the average temperature of a building was far cooler than it is today; in part due to poor insulation and also the lack of heating.

Anyway, you should really ensure that your cooler is reading somewhere between 12 and 18 degrees celcius. Top end of the scale for a powerful and full bodied wine like new world reds. Then the lighter on the pallette the wine in question is, the closer to 12c you should chill it to.

Hope this helps.

18C is room temperature around my gaffe, Rich. And your reply is not incorrect, merely incomplete. Light, acidic reds can certainly be chilled as it improves them.

However anyone who served a NSG, Barolo or Viviens-Dufort at 12C would need horse whipping, of course.

[Chief Arrowhead]

Makes the appalling grog I can afford taste half decent.

I understand. Lately I've been chilling moonshine and find it divine. In fact I just picked up a delightful June 10 and put it straight into my icebox.

[eastgermanautos]

Don't think the old maple syrup fiend is around so your goading is wasted LA. I don't suppose you even notice the temperature of wine wazzing down your scrawny neck in one straight from the bottle?

I think you should, dude. Another thing you can do, add fruit juice to make a sort of ghetto sangria. That's how I roll son.