As winemaker at Ponte, one question I am often asked is: “At what temperature should I serve wine?” Ideally, for whites, I recommend between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. For reds, between 55 and 65 degrees.
If wine is too cold, tartness is emphasized and if it is too warm, wine tends to taste astringent and high in alcohol. The good news is, no, you don’t need a fancy wine refrigerator to store your wines in, or even a cool basement (basements in California? Hard to find). Just do this: place a room temperature bottle of white or rose wine in the refrigerator for 30 to 40 minutes before serving. For a red wine, like our Super T, refrigerate for 15 – to 20 minutes. You’ll have perfectly chilled red or white wine. Yup, you can chill a red wine, too. In fact, you should.
Has this wine been chilled for 15 minutes?
Word to the wise: don’t try to be a rock star and chill your wines quickly by putting them in the freezer. You WILL forget about them. They WILL explode. You’ll be scraping frozen wine out of your icebox for months.
–Now that summer is almost here, what’s your favorite cool wine to drink?
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