With summer here you will be enjoying plenty of cold wine.
Chances are though that it is TOO cold!
You have paid good money for your wine. If you want to get full bang for your buck and taste all the aromas and flavours you have paid for, don’t plan to do so by pulling it out of your fridge at 4 degrees C. That is way too cold for anything other than sparkling wines.
White wines and Rose at this time of year generally just need an hour in the fridge. When you start serving the bottle either pop it in an ice bucket or return it to the fridge.
Don’t believe me? Try this.
The next time you have two identical bottles of wine that you plan to use, put one in the fridge for a day or so. Put the other in for just an hour. Take them out and pour a glass of each. Smell the overchilled glass and then the ‘hour in the fridge’ glass. Smell the difference? Taste the overchilled one, and then the other. Taste the difference?
You should!
Would you be happy if you paid for a full glass of wine and received just 1/2?
Why then should you serve wine so cold (and way too many NZ restaurants are guilty of this!) that you are experienceing perhaps 50% of the flavours and aromas – or less?
If you overchill it, you kill it!
