WINE TEMPERATURE BASICS
What is the best temperature to serve and store your favorite wines? I have been asked this question many times. Trying to be responsive to Blog readers and business clients, I embarked on what turned to be a two-day research project. What I found is hundreds and hundreds of websites that present information on wine storage and serving temperatures. As you can imagine, the opinions about temperature facts were all over the board.
Keeping your wine at the correct temperature is critical to maximizing its value and taste. Wines kept at too high of a temperature will age faster than desired. Wine stored at too cold of a temperature can develop deposits or other sediments in it. Each type of wine has its own desirable storage temperature range. Keep in mind the ideal storage temperature is not always the same as the ideal serving temperature.
Some general information was reasonably consistent from one website to another. The common refrigerator generally operates at 35 degrees F. The lighter the wine the cooler it should be served. The warmest you should serve any wine is 60 to 65 degrees F. Wine should be stored where humidity is about 70 percent. If you had to pick one temperature to store wine, store it at 55 degrees F.
Based on website research, the following table represents averages of all the information that was found. This table for obvious reasons cannot be portrayed as the definitive answer to the best temperatures for storing and serving your wine. It can be used as a guide for your information and use. With over 1,000 different types and variations, the wine temperatures evaluated were limited to a few varieties that are more common.
No one can tell you the precise storage or serving temperatures of wine. The biggest variable to consider is what your own personal tastes tell you. Having a wine refrigerator to better control the temperatures of your stored wine can help you experiment to find just the right temperatures for your tastes.
|
WINE NAME
|
STORING TEMP
|
SERVING TEMP
|
|
Vintage Port
|
65
|
65
|
|
Bordeaux
|
63
|
63
|
|
Merlot
|
62
|
63
|
|
Red Burgundy
|
63
|
63
|
|
Cabernet
|
63
|
63
|
|
Shiraz
|
62
|
62
|
|
Pinot Noir
|
61
|
63
|
|
Rioja
|
61
|
62
|
|
Chianti
|
56
|
60
|
|
Zinfandel
|
59
|
64
|
|
Rhones
|
58
|
60
|
|
White Zinfandel
|
43
|
60
|
|
Cabinet Sauvignon
|
45
|
59
|
|
Maderia
|
57
|
58
|
|
Tawny Port
|
52
|
58
|
|
White Burgundy
|
50
|
57
|
|
Rose
|
44
|
48
|
|
Beaujolais
|
52
|
48
|
|
Viognier
|
50
|
52
|
|
Sauternes
|
51
|
51
|
|
Chablis
|
50
|
52
|
|
Chardonnay
|
52
|
47
|
|
Riesling
|
46
|
46
|
|
Champagne
|
45
|
45
|
|
Sparkling Wines
|
45
|
45
|
|
Ice Wines
|
43
|
43
|
|
Asti Spumanti
|
50
|
52
|
Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, Jan/2010
