At what serving temp do you drink GC white Burgs?

WINE TALK
1

As I find myself splurging on more and more Grand Cru bottlings, I’m growing ever the more conscious of the monumental differences I perceive in both flavor and structure as the wines draw closer to room temperature. For me, I can’t help but feel well-chilled bottles are muting much of the nuances that seem to unravel as the wine warms. Often, I find myself hesitant to drink them before they’ve spent a good 20 minutes outside of an ice bucket. So, does anyone else think these wines are best drunk only slightly chilled? And, if yes, do you feel the top whites from other regions (and not just Chard) can and/or do show better at temps approaching room temp? Also, while we’re at it, do you feel there are any whites that completely fall apart once they are only slightly chilled (for me, most Champagne comes to mind)? Now, I know I just asked a ton of vague questions, so feel free to take the topic of white wine temps in whichever direction you’d like. Thanks!

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2

I like to drink good whites at around 60, they seem to show best at that temp

3

61.30 degrees Fahrenheit.

4

That seems rather precise. Do you pour to 3.14 ounces as well?

[snort.gif] neener

5

well, i do have a “heavy hand” and my TR pour is closer to 2.11 oz than the standard 1.5.

and it’s just Chardonnay, not GC Chablis. [drinkers.gif]

6

Speaking of GC Chablis, check out Mr. Freeze over here. Took forever for this baby to warm up and take shape, especially considering the half bottle pours our waitress dumped into our glasses.

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7

Mark, I think you have it right, at least for my tastes as well. I find most white wines (Burgundy, Vouvray, even Sancerre and Riesling) are best at low room temp, say something like 60-65, and can tolerate even a little warmer. Certainly whites directly out of the fridge or ice bucket are too cold to really reveal themselves. They’ll hide their flavors, and have more pronounced acidity, in my experience.

8

I usually like my serious whites at cellar temp, say 50-55. I don’t mind if they warm up a bit in the glass, but I find starting them near room temp is often too warm. The wines seem a bit flabby and unfocused. I like them more refreshing with better defined acidity. I agree that fridge temp or an hour in the ice bucket is too cold.

9

Just above cellar temp.

10

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I think everyone’s recommendations are spot on so far.
We start just above cellar temperature and let it warm as it opens.

11

I do not agree with starting just above cellar temperature. Depending on age and acidity levels, different wines will show better at different temperatures. Older whites often need help with the acidity, and serving somewhat colder (not really cold, of course) will help keep them tight. It’s a give and take, of course, as you’ll lose out on aromatics in particular, but I prefer to start slightly below cellar temp, and slightly below what I would guess is ideal. Then I have the opportunity to observe the changes along the warming curve and adjust and stabilize when I feel I’ve hit the ideal point. To me, this approach is preferable to starting at what could be too warm, then cooling down, then warming again.

12

+1. Sparklers are the only whites that I like to start with genuinely cold.

13

Only when serving it with pi(e). [snort.gif] [pillow-fight.gif]

14

I bring it out of the cellar at 52 degrees. If I am bringing it up while people are there, we will enjoy it while it comes to cool room temperature. If I have planned in advance, I may bring it up whenever it occurs to me, perhaps 30-60 minutes in advance, so that it gets a head start. I think the better wines benefit from some aeration, so I may pour the wine into a decanter a couple to a few hours ahead, leave it in the cellar, and bring it up a bit in advance of drinking to allow it to warm up a bit…again, if I have planned ahead. Most top white burgs (assuming they are not prematurely deceased) develop so much after they have opened up over a few hours and come up in temp, it seems a shame to miss the fireworks when they are downed too quickly and too cold.

15

Cellar temp unless you suspect premox - then a little cooler.

16

Reg. to white Burgundies (1er or GC level) I usually take it up from the cellar at 12°C - let it warm up slightly to app. 14° … serve it … and if still too cold I warm it up simply by putting my hands around the glass bowl for 10-20 seconds. Works perfectly.

It´s better to get it into the glass slightly too cool than too warm,
in the 2nd case cooling down again is much more complicated !

17

I agree with the posts here about being right above cellar temp. I’ll go a little warmer for older wines, cooler for younger wines.

18

This. And I typically use big Burgundy stems for these, so the wine warms up and develops in the glass reasonably quickly.

19

I have been thinking about the responses to this thread and I have to admit I am genuinely shocked by the number of responders who suggest starting whites at or above cellar temperature. Looking back, Michael Monie and I are the only ones who suggest chilling below cellar temp.

I totally and 100% agree that too many people drink white wines too cold, and that doing so mutes and masks both nose and palate. I also agree that there are many times when I will think a wine is at its best at around cellar temp or occasionally above. But I am, as I said, extremely surprised that so many people start at or above that point.

I have drunk wine with some serious collectors, consumers and wine professionals. My husband has been responsible for handling the wines for dinners involving 10 -30 of the country’s biggest collectors, bringing the biggest d—ck bottles you’ve ever heard of – magnums of ’85 Ramonet Montrachet, DRC, Coche Corton and the like – and, without exception in all of those cases, the participants have asked for the whites to be chilled. Not one single person has asked for his or her bottle to be held at cellar or cool room temp prior to serving. Now, I am not saying that being a big collector automatically makes you wise in the way of wines, but it does mean you’re not likely to be inexperienced, totally uninformed or in the camp of wine-drinkers-who-don’t-actually-like-the-taste-of wine and so drink it as cold as possible. The overwhelming consensus happens for a reason, and I doubt so many are all laboring under a mass misapprehension.

There are very good reasons to chill white wine. Yes, the mouth experiences taste best at 68 degrees, but that is not the only factor. Acidity gets a brace up from cooler temperatures, which is why I would totally disagree with the individual who said that he serves older wines warmer than younger wines. Yes – chemicals diffuse at a higher rate at warmer temperatures, and aromas will be more apparent; however, things break down faster at higher temperatures, too. And if you have a wine that is perhaps approaching its point of decline, a rapid breakdown is not where you want to start. Also if you start too warm, you’ll run the risk of entering the realm of disparate, flabby and flat, never having observed taught and balanced. Of course, there is no way of knowing in advance if your wine will be better at XX temp as opposed to YY temp, but starting warm seems like a much riskier prospect than starting slightly below where you suspect is ideal.

And what about other whites, not just GC white burgs? The OP starts his question about white burgs, but then also asks about other white wines. Champagnes, as Mark mentions, are obvious examples of wines that benefit from chilling, though very few posters have made this distinction on this thread. The folks at Diebolt-Vallois, for example, are very specific about how to serve their champagnes: cellar temp, half a tray of ice and water in a bucket for 30 minutes. I think this principle holds true for off-dry Riseling – really any off-dry – as well. Certainly for dessert wines. Chilled is better. This is what you’ll find in any printed literature that I know of – to start the sweets colder than anything else, except for possibly champagne.

People are free to drink wine however they want, of course, and should be honest about those preferences. If the question is just a curious “how to you like them?” then no worries at all. But for someone seeking advice about how best to approach…? Well, again, I am very surprised by how few posters recommend chilling. I think that, if someone new-ish to the game is genuinely asking for advice, it’s unfortunate if he is not getting a more balanced picture. Therefore, I reiterate my original suggestion – start colder, allow to warm slowly, paying careful attention to the wine and to your perception of it, as it warms, and be aware that many different points along that spectrum are pleasurable.

20

My thoughts too.