Wine According To The Goldilocks Principle
At first glance, the narcoleptic, house-breaking porridge-thief known to generations of children as Goldilocks may not seem a likely role model for wine drinkers looking to maximize enjoyment of each bottle purchased (and in these lean times we all want bang for our buck), but her finicky perfectionism when blithely helping herself to the Three Bears’ breakfast is a trait all wine drinkers can learn from. Too often, wine is served at a temperature that is, as our heroine opined, “too hot” or “too cold” – a glass of vino poured when the mercury level in the thermometer is “just right” is less common than one might assume.
The rule of thumb for red wine is usually to serve it at room temperature, which of course overlooks the fact that rooms often have different temperatures: I have a friend who basks in desert-style heat in his lounge all year round, while another removed his antiquated electric heaters three years ago and hasn’t got round to replacing them yet (which is why he ate Christmas dinner in his anorak last year). There are shelves packed with sommeliers’ guides and wine science that provide ideal temperatures for serving wine according to grape, region, vintage and proximity to the vernal equinox (joke) but here are the guidelines I follow at home: bigger, chewy reds with grainy tannins (richer Cabs and Merlots, Shiraz, heavier Italian reds etc) can be drunk at 60F to 63F (lower than you might expect, but this brings out the freshness of the wine’s fruit); lighter, fruitier reds (anything from delicate Beaujolais through to Pinot Noir, lighter Grenache, and various other unoaked wines) show their best side at 54F to 59F – the lighter the red wine, the more inclined I am to treat it like a white, particularly in summer.
If you’re really interested in exploring the effects of temperature on red wine (and possibly if your social life’s going through a rather quiet phase…) then try tasting three glasses of the same wine at different temperatures, say 54F, 62F and 68F. Having sampled the glasses alongside each other, you almost certainly won’t be drinking your red at the warmer end of ‘room temperature’ in the future.
If reds are generally served at a nebulous room temperature, then white wines are frequently stuck in the fridge for a few hours until they’re more chilled than George Clinton having an afternoon snooze by the pool. Serving white wines too cool mutes the fragrance and freshness that are the hallmark of so many vins blancs, delicate green fruit aromas and citrussy zestiness reduced to a bland, neutral ‘crispness’. You can use similar temperature principles for white wines as for reds: for the full-bodied whites, especially those with great dollops of vanilla oakiness or the firm structure of white Burgundies, use a higher temperature, say around 50F to 54F depending on just how rich the wine is. For refreshingly acidic Sauvignon Blanc, lighter Chardonnay, unoaked Chenin Blanc, or Riesling, drop the serving temperature to 45F to 47F. And if you’re serving Pinot Grigio, then hell, chill it as much as you want – a CIA-trained bloodhound would have trouble sniffing out aroma and flavor in most examples of this varietal.
The best way of gauging wine temperature is to use a wine thermometer. These start at about $10 and are available in plenty of wine stores, while Amazon also sell have a big range, including my (slightly pricey) favorite, the Menu Wine Thermometer.
And rosé? Well, that’s a whole blog in itself…
By Jamie Grafton on July 9, 2009 | 0
Comments
Leave a Comment
