Serving Temperature/Mistakes

[MontereyRick]

Hi all..

I was fortunate enough to buy a house 6 months ago with a very nice wine cellar (completely below ground/8 foot ceilings) and it keeps the wine perfectly at 57 degrees.

That said, I find that too often a moment strikes when friends come over and we pop a bottle of wine and drink it immediately and don't get the most out of it.

I realize that sometimes this is unavoidable. However I noticed in the last week or two the difference a little breathing time/warming can make. I took a bottle of 97 Arrowood Cab to a friends house and we let it breath for a solid 2 hours and it had more time to get to room temp. It was incredible.

Last Sat night, friends came over and after we ran out of the bottles we had let breath and had to run down to the cellar for another, I popped the same 97 Arrowood and it didn't have nearly the fruit/finish. I think it was mainly because it was too cold and didn't have time to open up.

I realize wine should be stored at around 55-60 degrees, but what is the correct temp for good reds to be served at and how long does it generally take for a wine that comes from 57 degrees to get to that correct temp?

[winoweenie]

Here in the desert we don't have much a problem getting wines up to the ideal serving temp of around 65*. In your lovely locale I suggest you get a carafe and decant the wines as soon as you bring them up. The larger area of the decanter will give you lots more air and the pouring from bottle to carafe will also help. Don't kill all those lovely 97s' of Dicks as they are killers at the ripe old age of 10+. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[BUDDY]

Please excuse my inexperience but i thought different wines had DIFFERENT IDEAL Serving temperatures.And I didn't rember any being as high as what has been mentioned.What am I misunderstanding?
BUDDY

[Drew]

Buddy, you'll find many, many opinions on this subject but below is a range that I employ. BTW, WW was answering MR's question regarding a red wine. Red wines should be served at cool room temperatures which 65°F is. As you learn your likes/dislikes you might find that you enjoy specific wines at different temp ranges.

Serving Temperatures

Wine Type

Sparkling Wine

42-54°F


Rosé Wine

48-54°F


White Wine

48-58°F


Sherry (Light)

48-58°F


Red Wine

57-68°F


Fortified Wine

57-68°F


Sherry (Dark)

57-68°F


Drew