Apparently, the ideal drinking temperature for a red wine is around about 60F - or 15C.
If you live somewhere warm and drink the wine at "room temperature" (i.e. straight out of the cupboard) then it will be around 28C in summer, and probably warmer than 15C even in winter. You think you are doing the right thing, drinking reds at room temperature, when you are drinking them a lot warmer than they should be. Wines are all about releasing the right flavours, and if you drink them too warm (or too cold), they can be foul.
Those of us who know that traditional reds should not be served cold from the fridge can have a happy medium. Keep the wine in the fridge, or chill it a little prior to drinking, let it breathe a bit after you pour it so that it warms up a little (but not quite to room temperature) and it may be a lot nicer.
Or drink it at 30C and think you are being a traditionalist. It takes all kinds. Whatever makes you happy.
4 comments:
Is it just the temperature - or is there something else about a big red that just doesn't work in hot climes? Maybe that's why I prefer a cooler climate :P
I do love sparkling Shiraz in the summer though. Steer clear of anything sweet, and I think they're wonderful.
I don't know. Perhaps you are less likely to eat the meals that they go well with when the weather is sweltering. I like a big red on the odd occasion, but not as often as I like them when I am traveling in the cool, it is true.
I like a cooler climate, too, yet fate has resigned me to living in the tropics for a long, long time. Perhaps we need to seek out training positions in Tasmania. :P
Sparkling shiraz is also wonderful. :) There are some nice smaller wineries in our (larger) region - about 4 hour drive away, and they seem to make blends that are perfect for the climate.
:-) Also: there are parts of the world where white wine can be drunk without an ice cube in it to prevent it approaching the ambient temperature of >40 degrees... (Am sure that the ice cube is NOT traditional...)
That also makes sense, now I get why our reds are always a little weird. Because a lot of them are supposed to be good...
Email me - what area are you from - I want to go to the tropical part.
|And I just realized I have no link to you.
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