Thoughts on serving temperatures

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SteveTimko

Steve Timko
I'm about to crack open a Chianti and it reminded me of the back of a Chianti Kermit Lynch imported in which he talked about serving temperature. I'm going off memory, but I believe he suggests serving that wine at 68 degrees.

So I know we're all pretty much wine veterans and know by taste if a wine is too warm or too cold. But I'm wondering what the board's general thoughts are about serving temperatures?

For instance, I've found Siduri pinots seem to show better when they're chilled, but Sea Smoke is better warmer.

Just trying to get the discussion started.
 
I would rather start off by serving the bottle too cold and letting it warm up, than the other way around. Unless I dinner was being served at just that moment of first opening.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
I would rather start off by serving the bottle too cold and letting it warm up, than the other way around. Unless I dinner was being served at just that moment of first opening.
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Same here. Can't vouch for Seasmoke though.
 
Red wine that has been stored in my unheated apartment requires 15-20 minutes in the fridge in order to give maximum pleasure. If it's coming from the shop, it needs longer. Direct from the storage facility is usually pretty good, so that would suggest my optimal temperature is somewhere between 55-60. I think this might make me a bit of an outlier.
 
I certainly prefer red wines at 19th century room temperature (ca 65F). But I find numbers of friends who like wine prefer red wine warmer. Heat brings out alcohol but it also can make the fruit rounder, so to speak. There is a scene early in The Magic Mountain in which Hans Castorp sends a bottle of Gruaud Larose back to be warmed by a fire so not all C19 people liked wine at C19 room temperature. As I say, I don't share this taste, but it does exist.
 
originally posted by Putnam Weekley:
good wine tastes good at all temperatures, just differnet
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I can't agree. Proper temperature is crucial to getting the acidity and other elements in balance. For red Burgundy, if the wine is served too warm, the effect of the acidity is lost and the wine loses its precision and purity and can become flabby and in some cases overly alcoholic. This is a prime reason why many people say that they don't understand what others see in Burgundy -- they drink the wines too warm.

Re Steve's original question: in the Johnson/Robinson Wine Atlas of the World, there is a chart for serving temperatures for a large number of wines that works extremely well.
 
But Claude..."it's a crapshoot" as to whether you drink the wine at the right temperature, no?

I've never seen a better explanation for why "Burgundy is a minefield". Let the rubes think that, I say...more for me.
 
originally posted by Lee Short:
I've never seen a better explanation for why "Burgundy is a minefield". Let the rubes think that, I say...more for me.
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Fortunately, we rubes are not easily offended.
Or put off our Burgundy.
Best, Jim
 
I consider proper temperature the fifth element for proper wine enjoyment and could not agree more with Claude on this issue. I am firmly in the cellar temperature, 55-60, camp.
 
Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong?

I prefer Pepiere Muscadet at 65 deg. F but I think its still very "good" at 40.

Most of Thierry Puzelat's red wines are deliciously detailed at 45 deg. F, and compellingly slutty at 70 deg. F. I don't know which I prefer.

Cheap Pinot Grigio tastes tolerable ice cold (or mixed with sparkling water) but no good at all at 50 deg. F.

Some nameless, ponderous trophy reds taste sweet enough to keep down at 68 deg. F but bitter like burning oil at 55 deg. F.
 
originally posted by SteveTimko: I've found Siduri pinots...Sea Smoke...

Just trying to get the discussion started.
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Well for discussion around here you might try using different examples :)
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
There is a scene early in The Magic Mountain in which Hans Castorp sends a bottle of Gruaud Larose back to be warmed by a fire so not all C19 people liked wine at C19 room temperature..
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Is that considered a legitimate source for documenting historical wine-drinking practices?

Will future generations look back on our time and use Sideways as the standard for how we all behaved?

As a side note, I recently started The Magic Mountain and really liked the premise but got too bored with the digressions and put it down. (The same fate just befell me with The Man Without Qualities so now I'm moving on. Although I love Proust so it's not just a question of pacing).
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
For red Burgundy, if the wine is served too warm, the effect of the acidity is lost and the wine loses its precision and purity and can become flabby and in some cases overly alcoholic. This is a prime reason why many people say that they don't understand what others see in Burgundy -- they drink the wines too warm.
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I didn't know that 'flabby and overly alcoholic' was the most common critique of Burgundy.
 
originally posted by Putnam Weekley:
Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong?

I prefer Pepiere Muscadet at 65 deg. F
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Putnam, dude, I understand that you guys in Detroit will do anything for heat in the winter...but I lived 18 long years in Minnesota without resorting to this sort of behavior. Clearly you need the tonic of a good Ripasso.
 
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