The Simple Wine Storage and Serving Temperature Cheat Sheet
Regardless of whether it’s from a box or a bottle, wine has a special place in people’s hearts. It’s no wonder they would always keep a bottle or two at home.
If you find that your love for wine keeps growing and the size of your collection increases, maybe you should know how to store wine properly.
Before you Google how much a small fridge is so your wine bottle gets a new home, it’s better to know the best way to put away your wine bottles. If that piqued your interest, you are welcome to keep reading!
Serving Temperature vs. Storage Temperature
Before diving into talks of Fahrenheit and Celsius, it is ideal to know the difference between storage and serving temperatures. These two concepts may seem negligible or the same thing—but it’s not.
As the name suggests, serving temperature is when you can enjoy drinking wine the most. The right serving temperature can unlock tasting notes, bouquets, and other wine characteristics that would be absent otherwise.
On the other hand, storage temperature is the ideal temperature for storing wine. This ensures you can enjoy the bottle for days or years to come.
Ideal Wine Storage Temperatures
Different wine types behave differently. This means that the storage temperature for red wines may not be ideal for white wines and vice versa.
Here are some wine storage temperatures you should know about:
- Red wine: 50°F
- White wine: 12°F
Ideal Wine Serving Temperatures
As wine enthusiasts, you know that adding ice to a glass of wine is a big no-no. The ice will dilute your wine, which will put everything out of balance. Freezing wine cubes to add to your wine may be a genius idea, but it may irk wine purists.
Aside from this general wine tidbit, here are some wine serving tips you may enjoy:
Serving Red Wine
Red wines taste best when you serve them at room temperature. The liquid is exposed to air, its flavors blend with the open air, and it warms up to the perfect temperature. But don’t make the mistake of serving red wine hot—it tastes terrible.
Red wine is ideally served at 62 to 68°F. If you don’t have a wine chiller, you can keep it in the fridge for thirty minutes if you store it at room temperature or let it sit on the counter for half an hour.
Serving White Wine
Even though red wine is more complex and elegant, white wine generally tastes better when you serve it chilled. Although it is often crisp and fresh, white wine is usually consumed as the basis of wine coolers and cocktails.
It also pairs well with many light dishes. You must serve white wines at temperatures between 49 and 55°F. A good way to chill white wine is to place the bottle in a wine bucket filled with ice and allow it to chill. This is the same process you will do when serving rosé wines.
Serving Champagne and Sparkling Wine
Remember: all champagnes are sparkling wines. But not all sparkling wines are champagnes. This is why you serve sparkling wine the same way you would champagne.
Champagnes and sparkling wines should most often be served between 46.4 and 50°F. The cold temperature accentuates the wine’s bubbles and crispness.
Conclusion
Now that you know the right wine serving and storage temperatures, you understand that you shouldn’t be searching how much a mini-fridge costs. You should look into getting wine coolers and chillers instead! But if you will put your wine in the fridge, be sure you can properly set the temperature, avoid placing wine bottles in the freezer, and enjoy your wine to the fullest.
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