Come summer, the temptation is to serve white wines and rosés as cold as possible, but the reality is, you won’t get the best out of whatever you’re drinking if you don’t give the temperature at which you serve it a bit of thought.
You wouldn’t be alone, either: most people serve anything other than red wine far too cold simply due to leaving it in the fridge for too long. It will depend on how much food you have stored in it, but the average domestic fridge is between 3C and 5C, which is colder than the recommended temperature for even sparkling wines, so leaving a bottle of wine in it all day is a bad idea. Basically, it dumbs down the flavour.
If you’re drinking outside on a hot day, however, any glass will warm up fairly quickly, so you can get away with chilling it down a little more than is ideal, but not by too much if your fridge is running cold. Also, don’t fill the glass too full – halfway up is ideal – or it’ll warm up too quickly.
So how long should you chill wines for, assuming you don’t have a wine thermometer (no, nor do I)? It depends on the style of wine, of course (and the size of the bottle), rather than the grape variety. Light, crisp, dry whites can take a bit more chilling than more full-bodied ones such as chardonnay – for a standard-size bottle, one and a half to two hours in the fridge, rather than an hour. (Compare the two chenins in my pick this week.) Rosés, particularly Provençal ones, tend to be similar to a crisp white. If you’ve got an ice bucket and just one bottle to chill, iced water (rather than ice) is quite a bit quicker at cooling.
So far as reds are concerned, you probably know (though many restaurants seemingly still don’t) that you can serve light reds such as pinot noir and beaujolais lightly chilled – say, half to three-quarters of an hour – but even fuller-bodied reds benefit from not being served at ambient temperature, particularly on a hot day. I wouldn’t actually chill them, but keep them cool and out of the sun.
Allow longer times in the fridge for sweet and sparkling wines and some fortified wines such as dry sherry (finos and manzanillas) and vermouth. Even then, though, there’s a difference between lighter sparkling wines such as prosecco, crémant and lighter aperitif styles of champagne (two to three hours in the fridge) and vintage champagne (an hour and a half to two), which again benefits from a slightly higher temperature to open up.
In short, if a wine is young, fresh, sweet or fizzy, chill it longer, and if it’s rich and complex, not so long.
Five wines to serve at different temperatures
Taste the Difference Discovery Collection Saumur Blanc 2022 £10 Sainsbury’s, 12%. Crisp, elegant chenin from the Loire that should be served cooler (8-10C) than the wine below. Would be lovely with fresh crab.
Villiera Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2022 £14.99 (or £12.99 on mix-six) Majestic, 14.5%. A sumptuously rich, barrel-fermented chenin that will appeal to lovers of big chardonnays. Serve at 12-13C (ie, not too cold).
Asda Extra Special North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2020 £9.50, 13.5%. Maybe the best sub-£10 pinot noir out there. Serve cool, but not too cold – say, 12-14C. Would be fabulous with a duck salad or rare venison.
Castillo de Zalin organic Monastrell 2021 £7.95 Co-op, 15%. Big, rich, exuberant Spanish red, but even so, don’t let it get too warm: 17-18C is ideal.
Berry Bros & Rudd English Sparkling wine by Hambledon £27.95, 12%. A really good sparkling wine to celebrate English Wine Week, which starts today. (Fizz needs to be served cold both from the point of view of taste and pressure: if the bottle’s too warm, the cork is apt to fly out with an explosive pop, so aim for between 6C and 10C.
For more by Fiona Beckett, go to fionabeckett.substack.com
