What Temp Do U Prefer To Drink Reds At?
0 voters
I like mine between 60 -63 degrees / 65 tops. It surprises me that some btls arrive at offlines at 70 degrees and sometimes even warm to the touch. How about you?
My cellar temp is 59º and generally take bottles out for 10-15 minutes or decant which raises the temp slightly, so I voted 60-65. When I get a glass served at room temp (70-75) at a party or restaurant defintely seems to lose something.
not much controversy here …
seems like folks are in violent agreement on this one…
WRT the offline temperature, I suspect its due to having the wine in transit, or at the office, for example, for a long period before the offline. In my case, I try to put it in the fridge at the office for a half hour or so before the the offline… but I’ve been to offlines with so many bottles that by the time you get to some they are bound to have come to room temp no matter what temp they arrived at…
I like my reds (mostly) just above 60F. I usually take them out of our 54F cellar an hour or two before dinner. We have air conditioning, so the house generally stays in the low 70s. We eat outside if the temp isn’t much above the high 70s at dinner time.
I love them cool, right out of the cellar. And then it is nice to see them stretch out as they warm up. Always best at 65 or below.
I also like to start them out cool, and then see how they open up with temperature. The default setting on my 1 bottle cooler is 55F and I usually don’t change it. Like others have said, I don’t like to drink them room temperature and it seems to me that a lot of people who should know better serve wine at room temp.
They are usually best somewhere between cellar and room temp as others have said. The problem of course is that you can only drink them at those temperatures for moments in time. If you pour small and return the bottle to the cellar then you can achieve that while driving yourself batty. If you want to enjoy your bottle over any significant amount of time without getting up and down then you will most likely be enjoying it closer to room temp.
Cris, salvation lies in the form of a freezer sleeve. They stay cold for a couple of hours, and you can slide them on and off the bottle without ever having to get out of your seat…
Those tend to keep things too cold for me, even whites. After all, you are basically just holding ice against the bottle. Then you end up playing the game of pouring and waiting 5 minutes for the wine to open again.
Wait a minute… I must be doing this all wrong, do you guys just sit with the bottle in your lap and refill as you go? 
I find that mine thaw pretty quickly and just putting it on the bottle for a minute here or there easily modulates the temperature. So not quite like pure ice at all with my sleeves at least.
Joe, no bottle in the lap. Rather on an end-table about 2 feet away. The laptop is in my lap.
What? There’s something wrong with that?
Cellar to table and drink till it’s gone. Room temp here rarely exceeds 65º as my preferred room is well shaded and protected from direct sun.
I love them cool, right out of the cellar. And then it is nice to see them stretch out as they warm up. Always best at 65 or below.
+1
I like what Eric said. I answered 55 to 60, because that is where I like to start.
It pisses me off when people bring bottles to a event that they opened hours before, having left them out of the cellar. It is now 70 degrees or more and ruined, maybe alcohol hot, maybe tastless, or any of other heat induced reactions. Basically, the wine is ruined before you start. You might as well pour it out at home, and stay there. ![[smileyvault-ban.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/426cc97ad8dd530c8304b0918ca75ff841d4d950.gif "[smileyvault-ban.gif]")
I’m with Eric.
That was tough.
I start mine out at cellar temp(55) too but like them warmed up to around 60ish degrees best. To keep them cool I wrap a couple thick kitchen towls around the btl which is pretty effective at holding the temp well below 70. Our A/C runs most of the summer though too. If the btl warms too much I’ll stick it in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to get it back down.
I like my Cabernet in the high 60s to 70 - lower seems to accentuate the tannins too much for me. Pinot I like a bit cooler - taking from the cellar at around 57 degrees and letting it sit in the kitchen for an hour or two seems to be just about right.
+1, I love to see the progression as a red wine reaches room temp.
We always have the sleeves in the freezer because we tend to like our reds a bit cool and in summer they warm up quick.
Chris, a couple minutes with the sleeve on is ideal, it doesn’t have to stay on to completely chill a red.
For me probably at about 68 degrees - if the wine is too cold it blunts the aromatics. Too warm and I notice the alcohol taking over. I have been know to stick my glass in the freezer at home. Not afraid to ask for an ice bucket for reds at a restaurant either.