You might think that getting the serving temperatures for different types of wine right is a complicated business, but it’s not at all. It does make sense to serve wines at their ideal temperatures, because this can have quite a dramatic effect on the way it smells and tastes, so getting it right is important if you want to have the best drinking experience.
It’s not complicated, really and these easy guidelines will stand you in good stead.
Serve sparkling wine ice-cold – 40-50F
You can place your bubbly in the freezer for an hour or so before opening it. Make sure you don’t forget though, or the expansion of the liquid will force the cork out. You can also chill the bottle in an ice bucket for 30 minutes and keeping the bubbly at around freezing point will make sure the bubbles are fine and small rather than over-enthusiastic. Keep the bottle on ice until it’s empty.
Serve whites and rosés cold – 50-60F
If you’re buying whites and rosés, you should place them in the fridge as soon as you get home. Of course, this isn’t always possible, so if you have some un-chilled bottles that you’re planning to drink that evening, leave them in the fridge for several hours, or in the freezer for half an hour. You don’t need to keep the bottle on ice once it’s opened though, you should let it warm slightly and enjoy how the aromas and tastes change as the temperature rises.
Serve red wines cool – 60-70F
It’s almost instinctive to serve reds at room temperature, but it should be merely cool. An hour in the fridge should do the trick, or just 15 minutes in the freezer. As with the whites, once the bottle’s open, leave it to warm to develop and change. Some reds are better warmer, however, but you can’t go too far wrong with cool, at least to start off with.