Temperature is probably the most crucial factor to appreciate any wine at its optimum best. Glass style, food and environmental conditions all play a part but serve your wine at the wrong temperature and it just will not develop to its true potential.
Generally speaking white wine is served colder than red – there are exceptions of course and it can also be a matter of personal preference.
Knowing when your wine is at the correct temperature is often a matter of experience. You can use a wine thermometer with the guide beneath or trust your own palate. A wine served too warm will often taste harsh and acidic. If served too cold a wine can taste dull and insipid.
A By The Glass® dispensing and preservation system is a great tool to aid you in keeping control of the temperature your wines are stored and served at; You can also alter the temperatures as you see suitable for the wine in the system and even set 2 different temperatures for red and whites in the same dispensing unit.
Wine Temperature Recommendation Guide
The following guidelines should provide the best starting points for your wines…
- Young Whites: 10°-12° C
- Mature Whites: 12°-14° C
- Young and light Rosé: 10°-12° C
- Mature and bodied Rosé: 12°-14° C
- Nouveaux Reds: 10°-14° C
- Young, light and slightly tannic Reds: 14°-16° C
- Mature bodied Reds: 16°-18° C
- Aged Reds: 18°-20° C
- Sweet and aromatic Sparkling wines: 8° C
- Charmat methode Sparkling wines: 8°-10° C
- Champagne and vintage Sparkling: 8°-10° C
- Sweet wines: 10°-18° C
- Fortified wines: 10°-18° C
Each bottle of wine will have it’s own characteristics and you have a unique palate so these guides are just that – guides. Experiment with the temperatures of your wines and you will soon build your own database of service temperatures for your favourite wines. It’s a good excuse as any to try more wines!
