Wine Made Easy by Jill Stacey

If you're not sure whether you need to serve that white or red wine chilled, Jill Stacey has some great tips for us.

Wine is a personal choice and the temperature that it is served at is a personal choice; however I have a strong opinion that most people are drinking their reds too warm and their whites too cold.

Red Wines
If you drink red wine at temperatures above 70 degrees the wine is not at its best...the warmth of the wine can take away from the flavors. Besides drinking wine at room temperature in Arizona's summer is never a good idea. Once wine is 75-80, which can be room temperatures in some homes, it is too warm and can really throw off the balance of the wine. The alcohol in the wine can become more prominent in the wine than it is meant to be. If you don't have a wine refrigerator at home then simply place the red in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and get it to a 62-65 degree temperature before serving.

White Wines
The misconception with white wines is the colder the better. But if you think of what ice does to your mouth... a cold wine can shock your mouth and you miss the flavor of the fruits. The fruits can also be stunted. A good white wine will get better as it warms it up. Absolute minimum temperature that good white wine should be served at is 45 F. My preferred temperature is
48 - 52 F. If you've refrigerated your white wine, just take it out of the refrigerator for, say, 30 minutes before serving. The same is true for Champagne. Ice buckets are great to briefly cool down a wine (red, white, or bubbly) that has gotten too warm on the table, but no serious wine lover should tolerate leaving a bottle on ice.

If you are skeptical, or not sure what temperature to serve your wine at, then experiment, try your wines at different temperatures. That is the fun part about wine.... experiment. That is how you will learn to let your taste buds tell you!

Cheers!

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