Do you ever chill red wines?

[Jenise]

Friends and I are planning a trip to a hot place, and are thinking room temperature wines won't be refreshing enough. I'm currently surveying my cellar for chilling candidates, and have already loaded a few bojo's into the case I plan to take as luggage. Otherwise it's mostly going to be champers. I'm wondering what else might be interesting to take along--with refrigeration, I'm thinking big fruit, low tannins, right?

[David M. Bueker]

Low to no tannin is the key for me. I chill Beaujolais, some Loire Cab Franc and of course rosé.

At this time of year I put all red wines in the fridge for a short while before opening.

IMO red wine should feel cool to your lips.

I like to chill down my CdR. I also believe PN can take some chilling.

I'm with Peter. During the summer months I will take reds out of the cellar only at the last minute and even then may chill them in the frig for a short while. My philosophy - best for the wine, no matter how complex, to come to the desired temperature in the glass rather than for it to be served or to become too warm. Indeed though, Beaujolais cru wines, many Cotes du Rhone, some Rossos (e.g. di Montalcino) and not a few Loire reds can be served lightly chilled and even put in an ice bucket as necessary to keep them chilled.

Best
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

Many modern Cotes du Rhones have gotten too "big" for the chill technique IMO. Having said that I do drink a lot of reds at cellar temp or just above during the summer.

Yup - like Daniel I like letting the wines warm up a little in the glass. And in summer months or if I'm in Singapore it's usually necessary to chill them a little as they'd otherwise get too warm.

At this time of year I put all red wines in the fridge for a short while before opening.

IMO red wine should feel cool to your lips.

Ditto.

Yes.

I've been told that it's common in Summer, in Bandol, to drink the red chilled. Then again, there are just some people that don't seem to like white wine. I met a guy from Sardegna selling sheeps milk cheese, and wild boar salumi at a farmer's market in Trieste last Fall, and when I made a comment about liking Vermentino, he said " I don't like Vermentino, it's too SOUR!" He had a plastic water-bottle with him, filled with a very dark red liquid. He poured a bit of it into a plastic cup and handed it to me. It was slightly cold. I was thrilled by the taste of it; "Cannonau!" he growled.

At this time of year I put all red wines in the fridge for a short while before opening.

IMO red wine should feel cool to your lips.

DITTO!

Indeed I'll often chill just a little lower than desired, allowing the wine to warm and open up as we drink it.

regards

Ian

All of the basic, unoaked, grenache-based wines from eastern Spain have been traditionally drunk chilled. It makes sense. It's hot there in the summer, grenache is not a tannic grape, and it's also a high-alcohol wine, so chilling it helps a lot...

At this time of year I put all red wines in the fridge for a short while before opening.

IMO red wine should feel cool to your lips.

DITTO!

Indeed I'll often chill just a little lower than desired, allowing the wine to warm and open up as we drink it.

regards

Ian

Ditto with a sustainable 18°C in view.

I'm with Rogov in thinking that the wine types he lists benefit from a couple or so degrees less or even more in some cases and would add red Burgundy which I like around 16°C.

Specifically with Côtes du Rhône and some Roussillon wines, I think that a slight chill reduces the heaviness and alcoholic burn. This is consistent with Victor's remarks about chilling Spanish Grenache based wines.

Part of the problem with modern wine temps is that most people no longer keep their homes between 16-18 C. (60 - 65 F.) and so 'room temperature' means something else to them. They 'chambré' a wine and it neds up being significantly warmer than it would have been in the Good Old Days. I have even seen them put bottles beside the fire to warm up.....

For sure I would ice down a red to get it to ideal temp! Done properly, it won't matter whether a wine has much tannin or not, as long as it is tasted at suitable temperature.

I often pull wines right out of my cellar (normally 55 deg. F.) and enjoy them as they slowly warm.

[Jenise]

All of the basic, unoaked, grenache-based wines from eastern Spain have been traditionally drunk chilled. It makes sense. It's hot there in the summer, grenache is not a tannic grape, and it's also a high-alcohol wine, so chilling it helps a lot...

I discovered this accidentally and usually seek out a couple simple, cheap Borsaos every summer just for chilling. Probably not a wine I'd pay to ship to faraway places, though...which makes the case for just taking whites and some beaujolais, doesn't it?

For those of you who advocated Loire CF's, this is a very surprising reccomendation. Don't think it would apply to the Joguets, Raffaults and Baudrys that are my faves, would it?

I also will chill red wines, when I have them. My "logic" in this is largely opposite of how I enjoy champagnes usually. With reds I PREFER a slightly below temperature so I will chill it first (just slightly). My thinking is that the wine in the glass can always warm up if I chilled it a bit too far but what can you do if the wine is already poured and it's too warm to begin with? So I always chill reds just sort of as a "precautionary" measure.

On the other hand, I also chill champagnes (obviously) but often find a lot of them get more delicious to me once they warm in the glass for some time! I don't know if this just a simple preference of mine, if the champagne is literally improving in the glass as it warms or if it has something to do with the bubbles "calming" down a bit, since I do in fact like more mellowed champagnes as a general rule. Perhaps it's a combination of all three.

What's odd is that this should be no different for red wines. They, probably more than ANY wine, has a reputation of opening up and improving with time in the glass. By nature they are more complex (the good ones are anyways). However, to me, a warmed red wine is generally less "delicious" than a warmed champagne. My guess is that the alcohol is the culprit for me. It becomes more apparent in warmed reds (and is typically higher anyways by volume %). I'm fairly sensitive to overly high alcohol wines and dont care for the "burn" so I suspect this is why red wines seem less appealing to me when in the glass for too long, generally speaking...

Jeff

What I am about to say will be perceived by some as out-and-out heresy but with quite a few country-style wines I will follow the provincial and quite appealing tradition of adding an ice cube or two to my glass. Indeed, it does dilute the wine but lawsy, lawsy, it can make such wines so very refreshing.

True, not at dinner time. Probably not even with lunch, but what better when sitting at an outdoor cafe or in one's own garden in Aix, Arles, Sorrento or Corfu?

Best
Rogov

Friends and I are planning a trip to a hot place, and are thinking room temperature wines won't be refreshing enough. I'm currently surveying my cellar for chilling candidates, and have already loaded a few bojo's into the case I plan to take as luggage. Otherwise it's mostly going to be champers. I'm wondering what else might be interesting to take along--with refrigeration, I'm thinking big fruit, low tannins, right?

Jenise, my basement is around 65 degrees, and that is too warm for reds IMO. So, I do chill a red for a while b4 I open it. Matter of fact I Have a 2001 Ridgeline merlot that is ready to open as I type. Hope to see you in chat tonight.

We always chill red wines to 62 F in the chiller and then put them in a sleeve during dinner. I can't stand hot red wine. Restaurants who serve it hot really anger me.

I tend to chill Foch down in the summer months; its low-tannin / tart-acid profile lends itself well to this technique. Oddly enough, I also get interesting cocoa aromas in Foch served cold ... could be the oak, when applicable - but who knows?

I've never understood how wines could warm up 'in the glass' because for me they usually don't spend very much time in the glass .

But, I guess I take small pours.

When at home, I definitely chill/warm or do whatever to reds, whites, and everything inbetween, depending on the temperature and what the specific wine requires. And since it is mostly just me and my wife and not a big dinner party, I have no problem moving bottles back and forth to the refrigerator as needed. Although it can seem a little anal when guests come over.

Interestingly enough, when I lived in Berkeley the biggest wine temperature challenge was keeping red wines warm enough in the winter. Because room temperature was that cool.

I tend to chill Foch down in the summer months;

I tend to chill Foch too, until it becomes palatable.

But making sure I have a handy ice pick is such a hassle I rarely bother

Just kidding, Paul.

Beaujolais, definitely served chilled.

Many other reds are treated observing a maxim I once read: "White wines come out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Red wines go into the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving." This refers to a real refrigerator, not a cooled wine cellar or cabinet.

Summer temps here can hit 80s and 90s regularly. If we are eating dinner outdoors, I usually make sure the red wine is colder than needed when we head out.

I tend to chill Foch down in the summer months; its low-tannin / tart-acid profile lends itself well to this technique. Oddly enough, I also get interesting cocoa aromas in Foch served cold ... could be the oak, when applicable - but who knows?

Paul B, that is of interest to me as I am a big Foch fan, along with Bill out there in the west. Must give it a try next time I open one.
Hum, what about Baco Noir? Right now I think..doubt it?