The Tricks of the Trade when it comes to serving wine at optimum temperatures & why you should.

Ever wonder why it is that some wines taste better cold and others better when they’ve had a chance to come to room temperature?

The reason is quite simply because wine – like people – does its best when it’s in its ideal environment. Just like some people get the chills and prefer a warmer environment, and others are always hot flashing – not every temperature is the best for every wine.

In fact, serving temperature really changes and impacts the taste of any given wine. For example:

White wine’s acidity, freshness and briskness is enhanced by a colder server temperature. Bubbly and Sparkling wines require it to retain their friskiness.

Red & some dessert wines are served closer to room temperature (moderate room temperature so absolutely under 65° degrees and ideally around 60°) to bring out all their personality and bouquet.

Wine temperatures can also help out a little when you’ve been hit by the slightly funky bottle curve ball. A good trick of the trade is to remember that the colder you serve a given wine – the harder it is to detect something wrong. It also prevents flabby-ness in wines that are heavily alcoholic such as some of the whopper Shiraz’s or Zinfandels.

Past Wine Tips