Red wines: when to chill, when not to?

[jobycom]

Just asking. I'm clueless.

[annagull]

1. pretty much never

unless its a white zin or rose, or if you are making a sangria w/ a rioja, some beaujolis.

[benny05]

4. Agree w/you n/t

[alarimer]

9. What about after you open it?

And don't finish the bottle (I can't drink one by myself in one day-well, I could but I would probably have a bad headache)?

[WeRQ4U]

48. You can sometimes chill a Pinot Noir in summer time, but only shortly

I also thought that you should never chill any red wines, but I read recently that in summer months, a Pinot NOir can be chilled briefly before serving in the summer. I probably wouldn't do it anyway, but I guess it's OK to do it.

[hlthe2b]

2. Never

in my opinion... if you are talking "true" reds. I suppose some might view sangria as a red wine--so I suppose there could be exceptions.

[tjwmason]

23. There are a small number of sparkling reds

These are most definitely "true" reds, but should be chilled.

[xultar]

26. Agreed in addition room temprature is relative. So lightly chilled

may be appropriate in GA, FL, TX, AZ, etc.

[khashka]

3. Generally not

Serve at room temp. Or if you are getting really fancy, chambre.
Allow to breathe after uncorking.

Khash, some wino guy.

[tjwmason]

24. You're a wino?

My goodness - do the good things ever stop? :loveya:

[xultar]

5. Shiraz should be served lightly chilled.

[Nite Owl]

6. Don't chill

uncork and let it air for about 20 minutes before serving.

[SOteric]

7. It's never wrong to serve a red wine at room temperature.

If you're going to chill one, it should only ever be in the case of one of the palest, most light-bodied reds from Burgundian grapes, and even then, 'chill' is a relative term. 50 - 55º is about as cold as it should get.

[soothsayer]

8. Yeah, don't do it n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Chill them when they are too warm, and let them warm up

when they are too cold.

[radwriter0555]

39. egads but a wine that's gone too warm turns nasty in a hurry and should be

tossed out.

It just gets a metallic nasty after-taste if it's been too warm.

[Rabrrrrrr]

44. By "warm" I mean "not cold enough", not "left in the car for a week"

or "been in the garage" kind of warm.

:-)

Just "room temperature if you don't live someplace that has a real high room tempeterature".

[mykpart]

11. Why do we worry so much about

how certain wines "should" be served or drunk? Sorry, but if you don't like room termperature wine, chill your red wine. And if you like white wine with a good steak, drink it! Who made up these rules and why do you care what anyone else thinks? Suit yourself.

[jobycom]

12. Because

I eat tofu a lot, and people are always claiming tofu tastes horrible or bland or whatever. That's because they don't know how to cook it. If they asked someone how to prepare it and what they were supposed to be tasting, instead of eating it raw and expecting it to taste like meat, or whatever, they'd enjoy it.

I don't drink much wine, so I'd like to know what brings out the most flavor, how others enjoy it, and what I'm supposed to be tasting before I decide I know the best way to drink it. I could be missing something otherwise.

[pitohui]

14. taste is affected by temp and other tastes

you can't get the full complexity of the taste if wine is too warm or too cold or if the food you're eating (salad) clashes rather than complements

to prove this to yourself, buy a good cognac, try one glass chilled, try another at room temp warmed in a cognac glass, the warm cognac will have the richer more complex flavor

then try yr favorite white wine and a good asparagus salad with viniagrette dressing, two good flavors alone, yet both wine and salad are spoiled together

a few tests like this will convince it's worth learning some ropes

[jobycom]

19. Then bursh your teeth and drink a glass of orange juice!

More dramatic way to prove it!

[pitohui]

13. red wine should be served at around 60 deg F

people who say room temperature don't fully understand our room temp today is not the room temp of most of history of wine

room temp 1940 and on back was closer to around 55 or 60 deg F, so most red wine served today either too warm if you think you know wine or too cold if you just stick it in the fridge

since most of us don't have wine cellars a brief few minutes in the fridge is proper

[supernova]

15. That's why they sell those little

wine bottle temp gizmos, like the kind you put on your forehead to see if you have a fever.

Slightly chilling it, to me, puts the alcohol on the back burner and brings the flavor to the front.

[trackfan]

41. That's right.

Room temperature where I am right now is about 85 degrees, which is not quite what they had in mind.

[Kellanved]

16. There is no easy answer

Always chill red sparkling wines; also Beaujolais (especially Primeurs) is better chilled (Gamay based wines).

[donco6]

17. Room temp in TX is not room temp in Alsace-Lorraine.

Around 60 F is good for most red wines. You don't want that "lukewarm" feel in your mouth, but you definitely don't want it to be cold enough to condense water on the glass.

[jobycom]

20. Thanks, that's part of what I was wondering

It's close to 100 outside right now. Room temp is in the low 80s. That didn't seem right.

Is wine harmed by chilling it? I mean, if it's chilled then brought back to room temp, does it harm the wine?

[donco6]

22. Depends

Nothing is easy with wine, huh?

If you chill it too much, I've found it can cause more sediment at the bottom of the bottle. I wouldn't chill it more than 60 degrees or so.

[Shakespeare]

50. Yup. Well said.

If room temp is 80 degrees, that's WAY too warm for a good red.

(I'm always in favor of moving people away from knee-jerk assertions like "don't chill," and getting them to understand just what that means--and doesn't mean).

[rbnyc]

18. Generally not, unless you've made sangria!

Yum yum!

[jobycom]

21. Sangria!!!

Good stuff in its own way. A pitcher of chilled sangria on the San Antonio River Walk when it's 107 on the concrete... Yummmie!

[TK421]

25. Don't chill Cabernets, Merlots, Zins, or Pinot Noirs- just don't

These wines especially should be served at room temperature; if you chill them, it just ruins the taste. I do know people who keep bottles in the fridge, but whites should be chilled only

[xultar]

27. Not always the case. Room temprature is relative to the environment.

[TK421]

28. Just another way of saying don't chill them.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. If I were in Texas in summer , I'd refrigerate my wines and let them warm

from there. Heat ruins a red wine far more than cold will.

[southlandshari]

30. My advice - just avoid red wine altogether!

I know, I know, it goes well with certain entrees, and is undeniably the drink of choice of many of my friends who are far more sophisticated than me.

I have a headache every morning after I ill-advisedly partake of red wine. Every time. I could shoot a bottle of tequila (but won't, of course) and feel better the next morning than I do after more than one glass of red wine. Go figure.

And hey - why are you asking about chilling wine anyway, darlin'? Got a hot date you want to tell the rest of us about?

:evilgrin:

[jobycom]

31. I had a hot date

with Minnie, as usual. It was an impulse buy-- I usually drink sake, or ale, or black Russians, when I drink, but the label on this one made it sound neat, so I tried it.

I don't drink enough to get drunk, much less get a hangover.

And no, no hot dates. Not this millenium, so far. :-)

[southlandshari]

37. Half a glass

of red wine is enough to give me a headache the morning after. I couldn't possibly drink enough of it to even approach drunkenness. Blech.

If you don't have any hot dates any time soon, it's only because you aren't asking. If you were, they'd be lining up, my friend!

:hi:

[jobycom]

42. I'd have to meet someone, then remember

how the silly dating game is played, first. I'm incredibly dense on the subject.

And half a glass of red wine doesn't even flicker my humor. Half a bottle starts to amuse me, but barely.

[SW FL Dem]

32. Never. n/t

[steely]

33. chill white only

unless it has a (egads) screw top - then all bets are off

[radwriter0555]

40. Rose's should also be served chilled, and on a hot summer day are DELISH

if you can find a good one.

I've not had any luck with the US Rose's, but the ones here in the south of France are DIVINE ahd to be worshiped on a hot day.

[Shakespeare]

49. Except that some of the really high-end wines are now using screwcaps....

...so that old assumption should be reconsidered. Bonny Doon (moderate) and Plumpjack (Napa cult label) both use screwcaps now (they're newfangled caps designed specifically for good wine).

[shugah]

34. you're never supposed to chill (good) red wine

however, when room temp is well above 80 degrees, i've found that 30 minutes or so in the fridge doesn't actually 'chill' the wine so much as bring it back to the temp that gives it the most flavor and compliment to a meal.

for those of us who have no wine cellar, nor central air - we have to improvise and make do.

cheap red wine can be chilled to very chilly - but that is more if you are just in a mood to drink red wine, and the flavor and compliment to a meal are not considerations.

disclaimer: i am not a "wine snob." i do love red wine. i buy the "good stuff" when i can afford it and the "cheap stuff" more often because i really do enjoy red wine.

[Aristus]

35. Certain Beaujolais should be chilled.

Otherwise, room temp, baby. B-)

[Telly Savalas]

36. When I'm drinkin' some nice red wine, you know I always chill

and when the beverage is the white wine, it's time to get ill.

[sundog]

38. just shaddup & drink it

:P

[jobycom]

43. Most knowledgeable advice given yet.

:applause:

[Modem Butterfly]

45. Some reds are made to be chillable

Such as V. Sattui's Gamay Rouge. If the label specifies chilled, go for it, otherwise, just make sure the red is served at room temperature.

[Taverner]

46. Never - unless it's a sparkling Shiraz

Which are coming into vogue these days...

[Squatch]

47. Red wine should be corked at cellar temperature, and

then allowed to open, if needed. Cellar temp is 55 to 60 F.

Warm wine oxidizes very quickly, so you stand a better chance of missing the peak. A tight wine could open up on you too fast, and then go flat.

Here's the proper way:

1) Open at cellar temp. Taste.
2) Determine whether to decant or not.
3) Taste every now and again.
4) After a certain amount of time determined by you, invite your guests to try it.

Too many people will cork a bottle, pour it, drink it, bada bing. You have to develop a sense of taste to determine when you should drink.

I've had some pinots that tasted like fruit salad when served at cellar temp, only to taste like blood after they've opened up too far.

[northzax]

51. almost always, sorta

while everything is different, in my experience, most red wines are better at 60 degrees. Since my storage unit is at 65 degrees, I chill them for 15 minutes in the fridge to get them to the temp I like. There are more elaborate steps for 'fancy' wine, but for ten buck aussie shiraz, that works fine.

Get three bottles of the same stuff (cheap, ideally) and a thermometer. Taste them all, with some friends, as 60, 65 and 70. figure it out for yourself! plus you get to drink!

[jobycom]

52. That's a good idea! Now all I need

is some friends! More importantly, friends that don't scare me when they drink.