Jane's
Monthly Dozen: Cool Reds
by Jane Garvey
It’s a shame
that some wine enthusiasts wrongly hold fast to the notion that
red wines must be served warm. Doing so accomplishes two things:
It enhances the alcohol and it depresses the fruit. Who
wants that?
Summer’s ideal reds absolutely should be served cool, as they’re
light- to medium-bodied wines, which do better with a wider
variety of foods than do heavy reds anyway. Beaujolais, made
from the Gamay grape, is an excellent candidate, and should
be served slightly cool summer or winter. Sparkling reds are
great for summer use. Pinot Noir is another good candidate.
But consider this list as a starter set, not a limitation. And
consider that ALL reds are advised to never be served warmer
than 65F--which for the uninitiated might feel noticeably
cool at first.
By now you may be thinking this isn’t very “sophisticated.”
At dinner a few years ago in Buckhead, I asked to have the Bardolino
we had ordered slightly chilled. “Oh,” said the waiter, “I’m
not very sophisticated either, and I like my reds cooled.” I
said, “Permit me to liberate you, Young Man, from your notions
on this subject.” And proceeded to tell him what I’m telling
you here.
Don’t believe me? The huge French wine trade show, VinExpo,
is held in June in odd-numbered years, and it gets hot in June
in France. Wicked hot. Lunch is served in tents set up outside
the main hall, and to combat the heat, attendees plunge their
red wines smack into the ice buckets. If professionals know
to do this, why do some consumers balk?
Part of the problem is that phrase “room temperature.” It’s
quite confusing. Earlier this spring, I attended a first annual
wine festival on the Georgia coast, and was asked to critique
the event. What to do better next year? My top-of-the-line advice
was to insist that suppliers and vendors place their red wines
on ice before serving them in that hefty outdoor heat that can
become quite oppressive with the attending humidity. One distributor’s
representative, when I asked why he hadn’t done so, responded:
“I thought you were supposed to serve red wines at room temperature?”
Oh my. Hope he doesn’t keep HIS rooms at 90 plus degrees. Ambient
temperature could be death for red wines.
A few restaurants know the right temperature. Carpe Diem in
Decatur opened several years ago, and at dinner I called over
the young manager to compliment her on the cool serving temperature
at which the Pinot Noir I was enjoying had been presented. She
was frustrated though that many patrons had objected. Today,
the restaurant’s menu states clearly that red wines served by
the glass are served at cellar temperature as that is the correct
procedure. The restaurant laments that it doesn’t have enough
room to keep all bottles at cellar temperature, but if a customer
wants it has ways of achieving that correct standard. Still
management reports that some customers protest cool red wines.
Most of us at home don’t have enough room to keep a large collection
at cellar temperature either, so there’s a new toy available
for the purpose. Called the Ravi, it retails for about $40 at
most fine wine shops. I found it a bit clumsy to work with,
but users I’ve interviewed love it, so there may be a learning
curve. The idea is to keep the contraption in the freezer so
that it’s always at the ready, then you surmount the bottle
with the device. Theoretically, you should be able to pour without
holding on to the thing, but I couldn’t make that happen.without
its falling out of the bottle. Must be a guy thing to make this
work as illustrated. However, as your room-temperature wine
courses through the chiller, it comes out at the proper temperature.
That part does work. Is it worth $40? Personally, I would have
rather invested that money in one or more good bottles of wine,
to be placed for about 30 minutes in the fridge so they reach
the correct temperature.
However you approach the matter, what is the correct temperature
for red wine? (Or white, for that matter, which we often serve
too cold.) Many writers talk about “chillable” reds, but “chill”
may be a bit excessive, as I’m not talking about turning wines
(including whites) into Slurpies. The bottle should feel cool
to the touch, as the temperature in the cellar should range
from 55F/13C to 60F/15C. So 45F/8C is too cold for still reds
but better for sparkling ones. If a restaurant fails to present
a by-the-glass choice at the proper temperature, ask that the
glass be immersed in ice (outside only!) to lower the temperature
of the glass and thus the wine. It’s not an ideal fix, but it’s
better than trying to drink a liquid match.
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