Are You Enjoying Red Wine At It's Right Temperature? Know Here

Red wine's optimal serving temperature is crucial for bringing forth its full flavour and aroma. It is believed that the ideal serving temperature for red wines is between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius (59 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit), which is somewhat cooler than room temperature. This is ideal for showing off the wine's subtleties without masking them with extreme temperatures. The wine's fruit flavours and tannins can be improved by cooling it somewhat, while its acidity and balance are preserved. Red wines come in a wide range of styles, so it's important to verify the exact criteria for the wine you're serving to ensure it's served at the optimal temperature. You might be destroying your red wine if you serve it too warm, but finding the optimum temperature for your liking is a question of personal taste and experimenting with different serving temps might enhance your enjoyment of red wine. 

India’s only Master of Wine, Sonal C Holland recently took to her Instagram and posted the right temperature to have red wine. She captions, “You could be ruining your red wine! It is often said that white wine should be enjoyed chilled, while red wine should be had at room temperature. But drinking red wine at “room temperature” ruins it completely. We forget that wine comes from the region of Europe which is known to have a cooler climate. The room temperature in cities like London, Paris or Prague isn’t going to be the same as that in Mumbai or Delhi. 

If we drink wine at Indian room temperature, then it is only going to taste medicinal and it certainly won’t be enjoyable. This is because the smell of alcohol will overpower all other aromas in the wine while the tannins will be so strong that they prevent other flavours from coming through. 

To bring your red wine to its serving temperature, stow the bottle in your refrigerator for half an hour to one or two hours. You can also put a mix of ice and water in your ice bucket and dunk your bottle in this icy bath for 20 minutes. 

But unless you carry a thermometer with you, how do you know if your red wine is at its correct serving temperature or not? All it takes is a sniff and a sip to find that out: 

If the wine burns your nose with the smell of alcohol, then it is warmer than it needs to be. 

If you sip the wine and its flavours are not coming through, then it is colder than it should be.”