Question about cold red wine

K

Kay Bixler

Kay Bixler
Why do some red wines taste sour (like sour acids) when served too cold? I'm drinking a young Loire gamay that I've had a zillion times before fresh out of a cold (50 degree) winter cellar and it tastes odd. But I know once it warms up it will be fine again. Why?
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
Question about cold red wineWhy do some red wines taste sour (like sour acids) when served too cold? I'm drinking a young Loire gamay that I've had a zillion times before fresh out of a cold (50 degree) winter cellar and it tastes odd. But I know once it warms up it will be fine again. Why?
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Most of what you "taste" is the result of retronasal olfaction (smelling the stuff that gets into your nose through the sinuses from the mouth). At lower temperature, those things aren't as volatile, so what you get is primarily the sensation from your tongue (sweet, sour, acid, bitter). That doesn't leave much in the case of wine.

Mark Lipton
 
How do you make vinho verde blanco dry and crisp? You drink it straight outta the fridge, so you don't taste any RS. If you can't taste the sugars, you'll taste only the acids.
 
I don't now if this experience fits the explanation, but I've found in the past the cool drinking materially helps many southern Rhone reds. Is the coolness just cutting down on the brett?
 
Anecdotally, drinking cool also cuts down on the sensation of alcohol, at least for me, and that's the benefit in the Rhne, California, and otherwheres that such wines are frequent. When wines are imbalanced towards alcohol at "normal" temperatures, the chill can be worthwhile. Since such wines are rarely low on "fruit," there's still enough aromatic exuberance for enjoyment, but it's no longer like drinking garrigue bourbon. That, to me, is more important that the anti-brett effect, but of course this depends on sensitivity.

I wish there were an easy home remedy for VA.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Anecdotally, drinking cool also cuts down on the sensation of alcohol, at least for me, and that's the benefit in the Rhne, California, and otherwheres that such wines are frequent. When wines are imbalanced towards alcohol at "normal" temperatures, the chill can be worthwhile. Since such wines are rarely low on "fruit," there's still enough aromatic exuberance for enjoyment, but it's no longer like drinking garrigue bourbon. That, to me, is more important that the anti-brett effect, but of course this depends on sensitivity.

I wish there were an easy home remedy for VA.
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the common cold?
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Many red wines, served too warm, seem flabby. Mutatis mutandis that they seem sharp when served too cold.
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Ooh. Mutatis mutandis.

Yeah, you have to get in the right range. Though the right range for me in reds has gotten quite a bit cooler over the years. In whites often warmer.
 
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