What temperature do you serve your red wines at?
0 voters
Just to satiate my curiosity I’d like to know what temperature everyone serves their red wines at (be honest). Obviously this can differ depending on the style and varietal, but let’s say that this is merely an average serving temperature. Also, feel free to add your preference in terms of style of wine (Restrained, Rich, Traditional, Modern, etc). Maybe we will see some correlation. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I like big reds (Rhones, Amarone, Cali Cabs), and I prefer them just about 68F. I feel they open-up and release their bouquet and more subtle flavors.
I prefer my reds a little on the cool side, 60 to 64 degrees when opened. Whether it’s just me or factual, young and just opened older wines can have a tough introduction on the first sip. While the nose is subdued, so is the bite from alcohol and unresolved tannins. As the wine warms and breathes in the glass, I can monitor the evolution. The next time I have that particular wine, I have a better idea of how long to let the wine breathe before pouring it, whether to decant in a cold room and at what temperature range it shows best at.
I have no idea what temperature my wine is at when I serve it. I pull it out of the cellar, pop the cork, possibly decant, and serve. The cellar is ~56 degrees, so the wine probably starts near there and warms to mid 60s over the course of the evening.
Interesting results so far and a bit different from what I expected. I believed that the peak of the bell curve would be at 64-68 degrees, not 60-64. Personally I attempt to serve all reds between 62-64 degrees as I find that it helps it retain the most focus and expression without accentuating alcohol or fruit.
Due to some of the comments on this site about the presence / burn of alcohol on some new world wines I figured that too many were serving them too warm. With other tasters I’ve found that serving a 15+% wine at 62-64 or so, instead of high 60s has yielded dramatic results.
We pull directly from our cellar at 59º and given the wine will warm slightly while it’s being drunk, I voted 60-64º. If the wine is undergoing any kind of extended decant (more than a half hour) then the decanter goes back into the cellar.
I found I’ve become quite sensitive to this, and often find wines poured in lower-end restaurants too warm to enjoy.
It’s an interesting point about alcohol levels and serving temp. We had a couple small pours left from an LBV Port which sat out at room temp overnight and it definitely had a burn when we polished it off which we hadn’t noticed the night before at cellar temp.
As to be expected, it really does depend. If I’m drinking a red wine that might show it’s alcohol too 'easily, I’m usually going to serve this cooler than other wines . . .
Cheers
Very much agree. I’ve become particularly sensitive to serving temperature as well. Delineation is important to me during tastings and if a wine is served too warm the fruit, alcohol, tannin all begin to meld together making it indistinct and characteristics difficult to “get at”. My belief is that some cooler climates wines tend to show better at a greater range of temperatures due to the lower alcohol and less ripe fruit characteristics. In that sense they become more forgiving of serving temperature even though they still show better at cooler temperatures (60-64) as well. Temperature tends to correlate to acidity as well, but it works in both directions. Low acid wines seem more flabby at high temps, while high acid wines can seem more acidic at high temps too.
Now it is possible that some wines feel particularly “tight” even in the 64 degree range but I believe this is truly indicative of what’s occurring in the wine. (Needs aeration or more bottle age). I believe some feel like warming up the wine makes it more expressive, but typically this at the cost of structure and composure. Since structure is such a fundamental part of great wine I find it difficult to forego it in the sake of more expressive aromas.
I have no idea. If it’s about the temperature of Good British Ale, that’s fine.
IOW, cooler than a California room temperature.
My response bridged the temperature range 64-68F to fit nearest to an older wine or relatively recent vintage. The older wines I bring out >24hrs ahead of opening to let the sediment settle, whereas, the newer vintages I pull from a Eurocave just before drinking. A variable for me is house temperature depending on summer(60-80F) versus winter(steady 68F). Winter is when I drink mostly older red wines…Gary
64/65 seems about right to me - for most - but it can vary.
I think the way the question was posed is ambiguous and generates two different answers. Some are literally reading the question…answering the question of what temperature the wine is at the time the wine is first served. Others are answering a different question: what is the perfect temperature to DRINK the wine. Of course I always “serve” the wine straight from my cellar to my glass. But I do not believe 57 or 60 degrees (cellar temp) is ideal for drinking the wine. However, the wine quickly warms in my glass and I do enjoy sampling it as it warms. However, I typically find the wine shows its best at about 67-68 degrees.
So I SERVE the wine at 60, but wind up DRINKING most of the wine at 67…That may explain why a large group of people are answer 60-64 and another are answering 65-68. Several posters above indicate they selected a lower temperature because that is the temp at which they initially “serve” the wine, but that it then has to warm to the best drinking temp…
I suppose my reasoning is that a wine should be served when it is ready to drink. Presumably if a wine was in need of decanting or aerating it would be done prior to serving. Thus the term was used to present a case where a wine was presented in it’s most ideal state.
For me, 68 degrees often feels too warm. The wine begins to soften on the palate and it starts to lose some of textural composition. It’s certainly better than low 70s where the wine seems dramatically different, but I feel like it’s not the ideal consumption temperature.
Prior to this thread, I never measured the temp of my wine, I just know by tasting it where I like it. I had to out my instant read thermometer to see what the temp was so I knew how to vote. I initially voted too low (60-64) and had to change my vote for the correct range (64-68).
Pretty much where I am. It may vary with the wine, though.