Wines & Their Serving Temperatures

So much of a wine's taste is dependant on its aroma, and serving wine at the wrong temperature can spoil an otherwise excellent experience (too cold and the wine's taste is muted; too hot and the wine tastes flabby or the finish hot). Generally refrigerators are set too cold (38-40°F) for white wines and modern day room temperature (66-70°F) is too warm for reds. However, specialized equipment, beyond a good wine thermometer, isn't always necessary: a few minutes of either letting a white stand to release some of the chill or chilling a red for 15 minutes can work wonders.

Depending on the varieties and quality of the wine the optimum temperature ranges from 40°F to 64°F:
Coldest of all, Champagne and sparkling wine is best enjoyed at 40-44°F. Cool temperature allows the wine to retain its bubbles longer.

White wine comes next with an optimal range of 42-46°F

A fine dessert wine is best enjoyed at 46-48°F - cool enough to keep the wine's sweetness in check, yet not so cold that the taste becomes muted.

An everyday red would come next with a range of 54-56°F

A fine pinot noir necessitates slightly warmer temperatures: 58-60°F

A Red Bordeaux should be served, warmer still, at 60-62°F

And finally the more tannic and aromatic reds should be drunk at 62-64°F

Wine Tasting Parties Are Becoming Popular

Host a Tasting
A wine tasting party, in addition to being great fun, is a great way for you and your friends to learn about the incredibly varied world of wine.
Must have:

1. Glasses – one per person is sufficient so long as you provide water to rinse glasses out in between wines.

2. Paper bags – we highly recommend enclosing the wine in a brown paper bag, or obscuring the label in some other way to create a blind tasting. Blind tastings increase your focus on the wine, and remove any and all preconceptions about a given bottle. (If you’re afraid of cheaters, remove the foils and hide the corks.)

3. Food – mild cheeses (stronger is ok for fuller bodied reds, or sweet wines), crackers, good bread and fruit are all great additions to a tasting, and fruit and dessert are a great way to end a tasting with a nice cup of coffee.

4. Pencils and paper – by writing down your impressions of each wine you promote greater focus and patience in examining a wine’s merits as well as its faults.

5. Water – it is always nice to have water (not too cold) available, in addition to food, for people to cleanse their palates.

6. Spit buckets – for tasters who do not wish to swallow, and to dispose of excess wine before moving on to the next.

7. White – whether it’s a tablecloth, napkins, or white paper, having something white is essential to act as a background for observing a wine’s color.