White wines
Sparkling wines and fresh whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé should be served cold. But how cold? Chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours at around 8°Celsius and then pour directly into the glass, without leaving the bottle out.
Fuller-bodied white wines with more structure, like Chardonnay, are often aged in barrels, expressing their aromas best when the wine is served between 10 and 12°C, even up to 13°C for ultra-premium wines.
And if served at colder temperatures? We wouldn’t perceive the wine’s aromas, and that is the whole point.
Red wines
With red wine varietals, we have to be careful when it comes to the serving temperature, because if it goes over 20°C, the wine will express more alcohol than fruit and will be heavy on the palate.
The lighter-bodied the wine, the colder it is served. For example, Pinot Noir. And the fuller the body, the warmer the wine. For example, Cabernet Sauvignon.
However, we can suggest a standard minimum of 14°C and a maximum of 18°C.
Tips for finding the right temperature
“There are a number of tips for determining the temperature, but it’s all relative. For example, the glass should fog up when serving white wine. This generally indicates that it is very cold, but it could be that the glass is hot, or the atmosphere is humid,” says a sommelier for Concha y Toro.
One important tip is that wine glasses must never be served to the top in order to keep the temperature of the wine from rising.
“A white wine must be served in a smaller glass than a red wine, and never more than 1/3 of the glass. On the other hand, a red wine can be served up to 2/3, it’s best at just a half.”
Another alternative for serving wine, is to put the bottle of red wine in the refrigerator for an hour. This will obviously cool the wine, but once you take it out, the room temperature will gradually bring the temperature back up to 16 to 18°C.
The thing is that red wines are generally served too warm, which hinders their aromatic expression and leaves them feeling a little too heady.
