Ever given a thought to what temperature you should serve your wine? Or does it go down good hot or cold? The serious wine drinker will know that wine temperature can affect how the wine tastes. When wine is served at the right temperature you will be able to taste its aromas and flavours. However if it’s too cold these will be concealed. When served too hot the alcohol component of the wine will be more notable. So the general rule when coming to wine temperature would be to serve the white chilled and the red at room temperature.

According to an article on TheLocalNose.com titled “Drink wines at the correct temperature” the following advice is given:

“For red wines, simply place your red wines in the refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.  This will bring the wine to a palatable temperature and you will enjoy most all of the bottle at an optimum temperature.

For white wines, allow two hours in the refrigerator to bring the temperatures down sufficiently.  Alternatively, fill a bucket with ice and water and chill the wine for 30 minutes.  Another tip is that inexpensive, young white wines often taste better when they are served very cold, so chill away!

For sparkling wines and sweet dessert wines, even if the wine has spent the night in the fridge, it is essential to chill the wine for an hour in an ice bucket prior to drinking. Domestic refrigerators keep temperatures at around 7 °C so these wines will drink at their best with some added time on ice.”