WINE TEMPERATURE: Why it Matters and How to Get it Right
Wine is a sensory experience at the end of the day. It’s all about flavour, aroma, structure, and balance.
People often fuss over picking the right wine, having the right wine glass and pairing the right foods with their wines. And for good reason; it is true that all of these factors can impact the experience that accompanies a glass of wine.
But there is one particular factor that is often-overlooked, even though it can truly make or break everything. And this factor is…..temperature!
WHY TEMPERATURE MATTERS
Whether you’re sipping a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, a bold fruity Merlot, or a rich oaked Chardonnay, the temperature of your wine plays a vital role in unlocking its full potential.
In fact, every foundational component of a wine - be it flavor, structure, tannin, acid — is impacted by temperature. Even the ability to pair a wine well with food is impacted by its service temperature.
And before you go thinking that this is only relevant for a select few, allow us to explain that getting wine service temperature right isn’t just applicable to fancy and/or expensive wines. Whether your bottle of wine costs $15 or $200, enjoying it at the right temperature still matters.
Need some convincing? Here are five key reasons why the temperature that a wine is served at matters:
Aromatics and Flavour Expression
A wine’s bouquet and flavour profile can shift dramatically depending on the temperature. Too cold, and delicate aromas and flavours are easily muted. Too warm, and the alcohol may overpower everything else. These impacts are amplified when a wine is based on a delicate or aromatic grape variety.
Alcohol Perception
When wines are served too hot, they can feel hot and heavy. This is particularly true for red wine and/or wines with higher alcohol levels. In these situations, the alcohol can easily feel highly unenjoyable.
Acidity and Freshness
A key feature of any wine is its acidity. Ideally, every wine should have a good level of acidity that is well balanced with the flavours and alcohol present in the wine. Acidity is also a key reason that wine pairs well with food.
Sadly, higher than ideal temperatures can mute the acidity in both white and red wines, making them feel flabby and flat. Equally, if a wine is too cold, the acidity can feel overly taut and astringent, and interfere with a wine drinker’s ability to enjoy the wine.
Tannins
Like acidity, tannins are a key feature of many red wines. Getting tannins “just right” is hard work, and something that a winemaking team spends a lot of time and effort on.
Unfortunately, all of the effort in the world can all fall apart rather quickly when a wine’s temperature is not at its optimal best. Serve a red wine with notable tannins (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon) too cold and the tannins can feel harsh, angular and rough. Just a few degrees can make a huge difference in how tannins are expressed and experienced!
Food Pairings
There is no doubt that wine is elevated to a new level when it is enjoyed with food. Finding the perfect food and wine pairing can be pure magic.
But when a wine is not served at the correct temperature, it often does not taste as it is intended to. As such, it does not pair well with the foods that it might be expected to pair well with. To go back to the example of acidity - a wine that is known to pair well with oysters (as an example) may not come across as a very good pairing if it is served warm and therefore the acidity and lightness of the wine is supressed.
GET YOUR WINE TO THE OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE IN A PINCH!
Ideally, you have your wine stored at the ideal temperature so that you can also serve it any time, even on a whim, at the optimal temperature.
But clearly, life is not ideal for most of us, at least not all of the time!
If you find yourself with wine that is too warm or too cold, and you want to adjust the temperature as quickly as possible, we’ve got a few tips that’ll help you out in a pinch! Below are some ideas worth having in your backpocket:
How to Quickly Cool Things Down If Your Wine is Too Warm:
It is often said that red wines should be served at room temperature. But remember - we keep our rooms really warm these days! If you’re storing your wine in a closet or a rack in your spare room, whether white, red, sparkling or rosé, it likely needs to be cooled before you drink it. To cool it, you can……
Use the Fridge: You can always pop your bottle in the fridge. Generally, approximately 2 hours is sufficient for chilling white wines, and 30-45 minutes for is sufficient for cooling down red wines.
Rely on the Freezer: Not ideal because the extreme cold can induce shock in wine, but this method does work if you’re in a real time crunch. Just remember to set the timer and not forget to remove your bottle after about 15 - 20 minutes. The last thing you want is a bottle that explodes in the freezer! Wrap the bottle in a damp paper towel to speed things up even more.
Ice Bath: Rather than chilling your wine on ice alone, use a mixture of ice, water, and a handful of salt in your bucket instead. This is a preferred method for cooling wines down quickly and evenly, and is often used in fine dining settings. Wines tend to take about 15–20 minutes to come to a good temperature using an ice bath.
How to Warm Up a Wine That is Too Cold:
Only a handful of wines should be served straight from a regular fridge. For all the rest, if you need to warm a wine up, you can…..
Let it Rest: So, you put your wine in the fridge overnight and now it’s too cold. Simply let the wine sit at room temperature, preferable in a dark spot, for a few hours.
Warm Water Bath: Place the bottle in a bowl of warm (not hot!) water for a slow and safe temperature adjustment.
Use Your Hands: While we will generally tell you to never hold a glass by its bowl (holding the stem is the proper way to hold your glass), you can make an exception when your glass of wine is too cold. Simply hold the bowl of the wine glass for a minute or two to gently warm the wine vis-a-vis the warmth of your hands. This is a good method to use if you are out and have been served wine that is too cold for your liking.
Decant The Wine: Decanting the wine in a warm room will dynamically expose it to warm air. And moving it to a warmer vessel than the bottle it is in also makes a difference. Added benefit? The wine is aerated at the same time as it warms, which is particularly useful for wines with strong tannins and/or young red wines!
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
To dig into this topic a bit more, tune into Episode 47 of The Wineitupanotch Podcast. We go into all things wine and temperature in a lot more depth on that episode!
Until next time, wishing you lots of peace, love, light and good wine….at the optimal temperature!
Cheers!
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