The Wine Pair Podcast

Minisode #19: Can You Chill a Red Wine? (The 20/20 rule, chillable red wines)

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It is not a heresy to chill red wine. In fact, it can be downright crucial to creating a better drinking experience. Temperature impacts a wine’s aromas, taste, and feel in the mouth - so it’s something you need to think about when you are having a meal on the patio in the sun this summer. We also go over the all-important 20/20 rule in this minisode - a handy rule of thumb to make sure you are serving wine at just the right temperature that could change your wine game. 

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Show Notes

Minisode 19: Can You Chill a Red Wine? (The 20/20 rule, chillable red wines)

Hi everyone, and welcome to this special mini-episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair.

If you are new to The Wine Pair Podcast, these minisodes are just shorter versions of the regular podcast that we put on weeks where we might be traveling or handling other life stuff, and instead of tasting and reviewing two to three wines under $25 that are easy to find, which is what we usually do in our longer episodes, in these minisodes, we focus more on things like wine etiquette, wine education, and wine tips. And, we try to make it fun and understandable to regular, everyday people like us! And our podcast is recommended by Decanter magazine. Which is pretty fun.

So, Carmela, here is a topic we have covered from time to time in our regular episodes, and is probably appropriate for summer time - and that is at what temperature can you, or should you, serve certain wines. It is a generally accepted practice that white wines are served cold, usually very cold, and that red wines should be served at room temperature. 

Which is usually not an issue for most people unless they have a wine cellar or wine fridge, which are generally kept in the 55 degree Fahrenheit or 12 degrees Celcius range for reds, and closer to 50 Fahrenheit or 10 Celcius for whites. Although, we would say a temperature of about 55, or above normal fridge cold, can work for any wine. [We keep all of our wines at the same temperature BTW - about 55 degrees, and then bring the reds up to temperature about 20 minutes before serving and bring the whites down to a colder temperature by putting them in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.]

Now, before we get to whether you can chill reds, I will also talk about something else we have covered before, and we have a link to an article about in our show notes, and that is the 20/20 rule, which covers wines not kept in a wine fridge. The rule is that for white wines that are in a cold refrigerator, you take them out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you serve them, and for red wines that are at room temperature, you should cool them in the fridge for about 20 minutes before serving them.

So, wait a minute, right off the bat the 20/20 rule already indicates that we should be slightly chilling our reds, which seems like something you never hear about. And, believe it or not, there are reds that you probably should serve a bit chilled, and we’ll get to that in a moment, but some people would say we are crazy thinking that we should chill red wines.

Here are some facts, Carmela, are you ready for facts? First of all, cooling a wine helps the alcohol to mellow out. This is important because from both a taste and smell standpoint, alcohol can have an impact. In the mouth, too strong of an alcohol flavor can overpower a wine, and that means it may desensitize or tamp down on your palate. From an aroma standpoint, alcohol actually evaporates as it gets warmer, and the evaporation of the alcohol can mask some of the more subtle aromas and taste in the wine.

Cooling a red wine can also help bring out more of the fruit flavors in the wine, and can tamp down on the tannin a bit. 

Now, most experts suggest that a very high tannin and high alcohol wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Barolo or a Bordeaux should not be chilled beyond a quick pop in the fridge because it can make the tannins too strong and almost metallic. We would still say that a quick chill helps them to mellow out, especially if it is a warm day or the bottle is at or above room temperature. 

Other lighter bodied red wines, like a Gamay or Beaujolais (which is made from Gamay the Gamay grape), or cooler climate Pinot Noirs, or a Grenache, or a Blaufränkisch or Valpolicella or Zweigelt are not just ok, but good to serve actually chilled. I will say the Chicken Wine we had the other day - the boxed wine - was actually pretty decent, and maybe better, chilled

And by chilled, we don’t mean refrigerator cold, but more like right out of the cellar or wine fridge at about 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 12 - 18 degrees Celsius. Or, if you have had them in your regular refrigerator, let them warm up for about 20 minutes before serving. And, if it is a really warm day and you are eating outside in the sun, it is not unreasonable to have these red wines periodically popped into an ice bucket or in a cold wine sleeve from time to time to cool them off. They will be really fresh tasting and refreshing, and really, when they are overly warm, they are a little blah. 

But, that is the story. Don’t be afraid to chill your reds a little, or a lot depending on what they are, and try to avoid serving wines that are warm, even red wines. You will have a much more pleasant experience, and you’ll probably find your wines don’t overpower the food quite so much.

If you want to see the sources for our content today and get the links to learn more, come to our website, look for this minisode, and open up the show notes. 


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