To Chill or Not to Chill, That Is the Question

It is an often considered topic: at what temperature should you serve your wine? There are a couple ways to think about this, so let’s dive in.

The technical perspective

Let’s start with the recommendations that wine experts, such as the Wine and Spirit Education Trust use. Red wines should be served somewhere between 55 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on whether they are light or full-bodied wines. White wines should be served anywhere between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, again with the range incorporating both light-bodied and full-bodied wines. Finally, sparkling or sweet wines need the most chilling, with their desired temperature ranging from 43 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

These are all very precise temperatures. However, if you have a wine chiller or wine refrigerator, you can set the exact temperature, possibly with multiple zones to accommodate your different wines.

The simple way to set the temperature

Many years ago, before I studied wine or owned a wine fridge, I learned a very handy wine chilling tip:

If you are serving a white wine, store it in the refrigerator. Remove it 15 minutes before you want to serve it.

If you are serving a red wine, keep it at room temperature. Place it in the refrigerator 15 minutes before you want to serve it.

While this advice does work, it does not account for decanting. If you do want to chill a red slightly but also decant, just refrigerate the wine in its decanter. This method also does not discriminate between a full-bodied white, which should be served a little bit warmer, and light-bodied white, which should be served a little bit cooler. However, the temperature difference is slight enough that they typical person will not notice the five degree difference.

A little experiment

You don’t have to invest in a wine refrigerator or check your wine with a thermometer before serving. Rather, you can trust your palate and wine experience to lead the way. You can even make it into an experiment.

• Store a bottle of white wine (you choose the varietal) in the refrigerator.
• Pour 2 or 3 ounces for yourself and note the flavors and aromas. (While doing this, do not return the bottle to the refrigerator. Keep the bottle in a room temperature setting)
• After 30 minutes, pour another 2 or 3 ounces and see if you can detect any changes in flavors or aromas.
• Repeat one more time, about 45 minutes after the second pour. Again pour a small amount and look for changes.
• Is there a temperature that best brought out the flavors and aromas in your opinion? That is how chilled you like that wine.

Wrapping up

In general, red wines present best when they are just slightly cooler than room temperature. White wines have an ideal temperature that is a little warmer than your refrigerator. As long as your wines aren’t warmer than room temperature and aren’t served with ice cubes, you are probably going to be fine.