Proper Serving Temperatures for Wine
Serving temperatures for wine
More wine is ruined by being too warm than too cold. A wine that is served too cold is easily warmed, but a wine served too warm can be difficult to chill. Therefore, when in doubt, serve it colder than you might think necessary. A wine that is too warm tastes alcoholic and is not a pleasure to drink. In general, white wines are served cooler than red wines.
These serving temperatures should be used as guidelines.
65°F / 18°C would be the equivalent of leaving the wine out at room temperature for about 4 hours.
39°F / 4°C can be achieved by leaving the bottle in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
39°F / 4°C can be achieved by leaving the bottle in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
65°F / 18°C
Australian Shiraz, California Cabernet Sauvignon, Rhône Wines, Vintage Port
Pour with Confidence! Since 1990 The California Wine Club has featured the best of California’s small, artisan wineries.
Each month features a different winery and includes:
- Two bottles of limited production, award-winning wine
- Entertaining and informative 12 page club magazine, Uncorked
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee
- An opportunity to reorder your favorites at up to 50% off normal retail prices
$35.95 per month, plus s/h. No membership fees, no commitment.
Visit www.cawineclub.com to learn more.
Each month features a different winery and includes:
- Two bottles of limited production, award-winning wine
- Entertaining and informative 12 page club magazine, Uncorked
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee
- An opportunity to reorder your favorites at up to 50% off normal retail prices
$35.95 per month, plus s/h. No membership fees, no commitment.
Visit www.cawineclub.com to learn more.
63° / 17°C
Bordeaux, Châeauneuf-du-Pape, Ribera delDuero, South African Pinotage and Catalonian, Chilean, and Australian Cabernet
61°F / 16°C
Southern French Reds, southern Italian reds, Rioja, Toro, Australian and California Pinot Noir, Tawny and Ruby Ports
50°F / 15°C
Côte Chalonnaise, Douro red table wines, young Zinfandel, Oregon Pinot Noir, New Zealand Cabernet and Pinot Noir, Oloroso and Cream sherries, Bual and malmsey Maderias
57°F / 14°C
Chinon, Bourgueil, northern Italian and Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon, Valpolicella, young Chianti
54° – 55°F / 12 – 13°C
Young Beaujolais, red Sancerre, Bardolino, Lago di Caldaro, young Sanish and Portuguese reds, vin de pays
Tags:
Featured Member
I'd love to own some of the Mosel's best rieslings, perhaps from Markus Molitor. Once, long ago, I tried a red wine from the Ahr region of Germany and it was wonderful. Ahr wines are almost impossible to find in the U.S., but I'd happily add Ahr reds to my collection.
What do you think?
Recent Tasting Note
Food & Wine Pairing Tool
Find Us On...
Comments
AshHeller: With all of these different "accurate" wine tasting temps, how do most people store their wines on a day to day basis? We are thinking of getting a wine fridge, but we are not sure if thats the best place to store wine...
Can anyone give us some tips?
What is called a wine cabinet is typically a better choice than a wine fridge for longer term storage.
The largest deciding factor should be how long you plan to keep wines before drinking them.
Let me elaborate on why for a moment...
The primary reason wine goes bad in the bottle is from temperature fluctuations. These cause air to be forced out of and sucked back into the bottle, this oxidizes the wine and ruins its flavor.
If you're only keeping them for a month or so and your home doesn't fluctuate horribly in temperature, a wine fridge/cabinet is unnecessary.
If you plan to keep them for more than a couple months and don't have a cellar or somewhere that keeps a steady temperature to store them, then I would consider purchasing something to store them.
For storage up to about a year, temperature doesn't matter that much as long as it's somewhere between 40-70 degrees F. Most wines, as long as you're not looking at 10+ year old vintages, will be just fine anywhere in this range. This is where you'd be ok with the wine fridge.
If you plan to purchase expensive bottles, older vintages, or just want to keep bottles indefinately without worrying about them, start shopping for a wine cabinet.