This is the perfect wine temperature

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: this is the perfect wine temperature.

Wine and temperature, how does that work exactly? White wine should be chilled and red wine is served at room temperature. So far so good. But what is room temperature and how cold is chilled exactly?

The temperature of wine matters. Both aroma and taste change significantly with just a few degrees more or less. Even your favorite wine can suddenly taste very different at another temperature. It's time for a little wine temperature awareness.

Room temperature avant la thermostaat
We often drink red wine too warm and white wine too cold. Red wine with a lot of tannins is served at room temperature, because that's how it should be. But what is the right ‘room temperature’? In the past (before the thermostat), chambrering red wine (chambre is room in French) meant bringing colder cellar wine to room temperature. Without heating, wine was at most around 17 to 18 degrees. And let that now be the very best temperature for such red wine, not the 20 degrees or higher of today's living rooms and restaurants. That makes wines heavier and more alcoholic than they actually are. Too bad.

TIP:
If your red wine is in the wine rack in your room, place the bottle in the refrigerator half an hour before use. Serve it slightly too cold rather than too warm, as there will be another four degrees added in the glass.

Cold refrigerator
We often store white wines in the refrigerator. A great alternative in the absence of a wine cellar or climate cabinet. However, the average refrigerator temperature is around five degrees. Much too cold for any wine: it numbs the aromas and the wine tastes thin and flat. A mediocre wine won't get worse from this, but more interesting white wines lose their character.

TIP:
Take white wine out of the refrigerator in time, so that the contents can warm up a few degrees. The wine will then be less strict, taste fruitier, and smell better. You do the same with rosé and lighter red wines that you (of course) also store in the refrigerator.

The fastest wine cooling tips
If your wine is not at temperature, but the need is high? Then cool a bottle super fast in a tub filled with half water, half ice cubes, and a generous scoop of salt. The addition of salt speeds up the cooling process. For red, keep it for five to ten minutes, for white and rosé certainly double that. Also very effective: roll the bottle in a wet tea towel and place it in the freezer for a moment. The wet cloth cools the wine even faster than normal (depending on the wine color, leave it shorter or longer). Perhaps needless to say: ice cubes in the wine is of course out of the question with good wine. It makes it too cold, too watery, and thus tasteless.

The perfect temperature
But which wine do you serve at which temperature? Rule of thumb: keep red at about 16 degrees, white and rosé at 12, and sparkling and sweet a few degrees lower. For everyone who needs perfect temperature control, the wine overview below is a good starting point.

RED
17 °C – full-bodied, with a lot of tannin (for example Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Sangiovese)
14 °C – medium to light, with a lot of fruit (for example Pinot Noir)
12 °C- light, little tannin (for example Gamay)

WHITE
12-13 °C – rich & complex (for example oak-aged Chardonnay, Viognier, white Bordeaux blend)
10-11 °C – light & fresh (for example Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo, Albariño)
07-10 °C – sweet (a low temperature provides a fresher experience)

SPARKLING
6-8 °C – simple, accessible (for example prosecco)
10-12 °C – complex (for example Blanc de blancs champagne)

ROSÉ
10-13 °C – full, dry
6-8 °C – sweeter (a low temperature provides a fresher experience)

APERITIF
14-15 °C – port-like
10-12 °C – sherry-like

Why do taste and aromas actually change?
In general, the rule is: the colder the wine, the fewer aromas you smell. In red wine, tannins become harsher and acids (in both white and red) become more pronounced.

On the other hand: the warmer the wine, the more alcohol it seems to have. The alcohol evaporates faster and becomes sharper in your nose (just think of the prick when you smell cognac or whiskey). Since the acids seem less as the temperature rises, you experience ‘warmer’ wine as fuller and less harsh. Fresh and fruity turns into sultry and heavy.

Because one wine relies on its fresh acidity and the other on its special aromas and sultry character, temperature makes the difference between pleasant and unpleasant.