Serving temperature and effect on flavors

Last night I opened a bottle of wine that was at summer time room temperature. It was probably around 68 degrees F. My previous notes on the same wine consisted of phrases like, strawberry fruit, rhubarb, refreshing acidity.
This most recently opened bottle was sweet fruit, ripe, a little flabby.
I have had many bottles from this producer and they typically show as previously described and not the sweet fruit found in this latest bottle. Could this be due to serving temp. or an off bottle, or perhaps storage?

Yes. I’ve found that big fruited wines tend to get more flabby as they warm up and the alcohol overtakes the acidity. This shows a lot with Pinot Noir. At a recent event I attended where the ambient temp was in the low 90’s all the Pinots that were not kept slightly chilled were a mess.
During the summertime I like to keep most of my reds at or just above cellar temp when serving. I find I enjoy them more. Otherwise I just drink Whites.

I agree with Brian. Wines tend to get soft to a fault, and flabby, when “too warm”. Exactly what is “too warm” will vary. But as a wine cools down, its fruit strengthens and becomes more focussed, and the alcohol shows less, if at all. But too cold and a wine will get hard and charmless, losing its nuances. In Hugh Johnson’s “Wine Atlas of the World” he has a recommended serving temperature chart for all the major red and white wines of the world. The highest the chart goes is 64F, for any wine! And that’s the high end of whatever range he might recommend for some wines. Many don’t go that high…

Thank you both for your replies. I am especially pleased to see your response Paul because I too have a passive cellar with temperatures similar to what you mentioned in a previous post of yours. I occasionally have concerns that I am not keeping my wine at 55 degrees; but for the most part I anticipate my wines will evolve just fine.
My concerns are backed by the fact that my father’s entire collection of wine is cooked, but he had them in a cooled unit on the second floor. The power went out mid summer likely pushing the temperatures north of 90 degrees and probably over 100.

Parker once said that if your temperature stays below 70 the wines should age fine. For a short time 70 may be OK. My passive cellar goes from 58 in the winter to 66 or 68 in late summer. But the temperature near the floor is often about 2 or 3 degrees cooler, so I try to keep long-term and expensive stuff near the floor. But random bottles stored at shoulder height have been fine after 20 years! All my post-'88 Burgs are still too youthful! Had an '85 Chianti Classico Riserva a few nights ago that was lovely and still youthful too. Part of this result is “newer” winemaking and elevage techniques too, I think, that limit pre-bottling exposure to oxygen, so the wines are fresher when they are bottled.

It’s really too bad that “room temperature” became the de facto standard phrase for red wine “temperature”, because it’s not a temperature at all. It would be like saying “mountain height” or “lake depth”. Pretty much meaningless. I think when this phrase originated w.r.t. to wine, the context was about 60 degrees.

Nowadays room temperature ranges from 68 to 80 degrees, at least in the heated and air conditioned US. Have wine makers adjusted their wines to warmer room temperatures over the decades or centuries? I don’t know, but I know I like to drink reds at below 70 degrees.

I like Paul’s reference to Johnson’s chart (haven’t seen it, wish I could.) Now that’s what we need, instead of “room temperature”, or “cooled”, or “chilled”.

Edit: found one reference
http://www.wine-pages.com/resources/hand6.htm

Paul, what are your thoughts on brett blooms at temperatures over the lauded 55 deg.? I see on the discussion on the Rhys Family Farm '09 on the main forum as having some brett issues someone has recommended to keep the bottles cold to keep the brett from blooming. On one had you could argue that the wine is flawed in the first place or the other argument could be that poor storage conditions led to the nuance of brett expressing itself in a way that shows as a flaw rather than an enhancement to the wines complexity such as Pegau.

I haven’t had any issues with brett myself, except for a bottle of Gruaud Larose - forget the vintage, late 80’s I think - but that was a known problem with their wines at the time. I have read about the problem of brett and storage temperature, and I suppose it is related to wines that are a bit tainted to begin with…

Well said.

I agree about serving at cellar temperature.

What frequently goes wrong is pouring at cellar temp. and then, for some reason, leaving the decanter at room temp. for too long.

Just about every introductory book on wine covers serving temperature, yet it seems that most wine drinkers cheerfully ignore it. The next time someone complains about a wine tasting “hot,” ask them about serving temperature. Chances are the answer will be “room temperature” (or the chirping of crickets…).

How many wine drinkers are even equipped to quantitatively assess the temperature of the wine they are drinking?

Not all wines show well at or near cellar temps. ceritas chards show terribly at cellar temp, but at room temp, they are incredible.

Proof that there is no definitive cover all answer.

I would say open at cellar temp and keep tasting as a wine warms to get the best idea.

I agree with you, many (maybe a majority?) of chards shine as they get above cellar temp.

Simple rule of thumb:
Reds into the fridge 15 mins before opening; whites out of the fridge 15 minutes before opening.

what is “room temp”? 64F? 69F? 74F? 79F? any/all of the above?