Rwd Wine Chilled or Not

[BJS]

Should red wine be cooled/chileed before opening

[ethandron]

one opinion:
http://www.chow.com/f...-at-room-temperature/

[ethandron]

another opinion:
http://www.guardian.c...tkin-chilled-red-wine

[ethandron]

yet another:
http://www.hintsandth...k/livingroom/wine.htm

[ethandron]

i prefer any wine not too chilled unless it's summer. i like to be able to taste the wine and find if it comes straight from the fridge all i taste is the coldness and not the flavour. but as most people will agree, it's all down to personal preference.

[BJS]

Society, I would like to say, that the error was due to sampling several RED wines to see whether preferred chilled or not but alas, just a very senior moment which seem to be happening all to frequently now. MERRY XMAS to you all.

[Buenchico]

It would absolute be madness to really chill a really good vintage red wine (e.g. a 1996 St Emilion Grand Cru Clasé) as it would hide much of the flavour. However that statement refers to chilling the wine so much that it's quite cold. Cooling a wine stored at, say, 21C to around 15C can actually boost the flavour.

A few reds actually benefit from fairly substantial chilling. (e.g. Beaujolais Nouveau usually needs to be quite cold to hide its roughness). Otherwise it's really just a matter of personal taste.

I'm pleased to see that Ethandron knows that white wines should never be served straight from the fridge. If they are, they'll be at around 4C (or possibly lower). Taking the bottle out of the fridge three quarters of an hour before serving will allow the temperature to rise to around the 10C (to 12C) which white wines need to be served at in order to bring out the flavour.

Chris

[WhiteBears]

i got laughed at wen i suggested to my mates if i should put the bottle of red wine in the fridge :-(

[naomi24]

The advice to serve at room temperature was given in the days before the advent central heating when dining rooms were much cooler than they are now. It is a matter of personal choice, but cool - not cold - is good.

[scotman]

It really is up to your own preference. I hardly ever drink white wine but I prefer red at room temperature.

[ethandron]

quite a while ago i did a sunday times wine tasting evening. up to that point i had thought there was a lot of pretension around it, but having taken part and had things explained it made a lot more sense. i also took part in the richard and judy wine tasting course where you ordered a case of 12 particular wines (yes i know, i'm sure they made money out of it) and opened the selected one each week while the programme was on and their wine expert talked you through it. i found it very interesting and again, it made me take more notice of what i drank. when we go to france for extended stays each year we nearly always visit a chateau or two for their samplings/tastings too. that's not to say i turn my nose up at ANY wine, i don't, and can swill back cheap and cheerful with the best of them, but i never open a bottle at home now without tasting it properly and savouring it.

[Androcles]

Count-A-Strong said "I've designed a few wine rooms for fine dining restaurants and the clients always request that an air con unit be provided within the room to keep the temperature at around 16 deg"

I always thought that this temperature is right, largely because when a lot of the customs around wine grew up, rooms tended to be a lot colder than they are today (I remember our dining room as a child, with no central heating.....)

But these days, do whatever you feel comfortable with..!