The Auswine Forum

Should Pinot Noir be chilled before drinking? I have read on some bottles to chill before drinking but my usual instinc is to drink reds as they come, on my latest purchase of Picnic by Two Paddocks it says to chill in the creek first so seeing as though I am not near a creek I thought I would put it in some iced water for 10 or 15 minutes first.

Depends how hot it is where you're drinking it. 'Room Temp' is ideal, but that's European 14-18C room temp, not Brisbane 24-30C !

Beyond 20C I find all reds can lose some finesse, so if it's been sitting somewhere warmish, not straight from the cellar or wine fridge, I'd cool it a bit before drinking. Fridge for 15-20 mins should do it.

Don't forget the big Burgundy shaped glass either!

tonym wrote:Should Pinot Noir be chilled before drinking? I have read on some bottles to chill before drinking but my usual instinct is to drink reds as they come, on my latest purchase of Picnic by Two Paddocks it says to chill in the creek first so seeing as though I am not near a creek I thought I would put it in some iced water for 10 or 15 minutes first.

Please take heed of what Tigger says in his post. I "cool" even my best reds in hot weather pretty much as Tigger suggests. Plus they are served at a controlled room temperature of about 20 degrees celcius.

When I first started out taking wine seriously I had a wine thermometer gadget and let the wine gradually warm up while tasting it - from around 12C straight out of the cellar. I found for my palate I liked the reds around the 18C mark. Once they got above 23-24C they started to become 'alcoholic' tasting.

I drove everyone nuts with it, but gradually learned how the temperature affects the wine in the glass and became a fairly good judge of the wine's current temperature and of when to drink or hold off.

TiggerK wrote:Depends how hot it is where you're drinking it. 'Room Temp' is ideal, but that's European 14-18C room temp, not Brisbane 24-30C !

Beyond 20C I find all reds can lose some finesse, so if it's been sitting somewhere warmish, not straight from the cellar or wine fridge, I'd cool it a bit before drinking. Fridge for 15-20 mins should do it.

Don't forget the big Burgundy shaped glass either!

^Nail head and all that...

If I can add to what te two Dave's and Tigger have said - I agree, dont let the temperature of a red wine get to a very Aussie room temperature.

Also for this particular wine, its Sam Neill's "drink early" pinot noir. I havent tried one for a while but I expect it will be relatively low in tannin, and will taste just fine when chilled, while a more tannic red will taste hideous at anything close to refrigerator temperature,

cheers

Andrew

In my experience I like my wines from Burgundy, both white and red, at roughly the same temperature. Reds a little cooler than most reds, the whites a little warmer. Straight from the cellar is fine for me. The reds can warm a little from there as you drink the bottle but the whites I like to keep at around cellar temp.

I popped it in the fridge as suggrsted while I cooked some lamb on the barby, probably 15 mins or so and it was pretty well spot on to drink.

Panda 9D wrote:In my experience I like my wines from Burgundy, both white and red, at roughly the same temperature. Reds a little cooler than most reds, the whites a little warmer. Straight from the cellar is fine for me. The reds can warm a little from there as you drink the bottle but the whites I like to keep at around cellar temp.

How do you keep your white burgundies at around cellar temperature (12-15C) when the ambient temperature is 30+C? Or do you just guzzle?

I just use an ice bucket with a bit of ice and the rest of water and leave it in that.

Was in Perth last week for work, had a couple of meals at Caffe Italia. The windows were open and was pretty warm. Had a couple of bottles of nice Barossa grenache, but had to ask the staff to put them in the fridge for a few minutes, they were just a tad warm

Likewise I chill my reds in the summer as we dont have any air conditioning and hence straight from the cupboard is a bit warm (my main cellar is offsite ... actually off-state)....

In and out of the fridge the whole time.
I try to drink light reds at 13-14C-ish, and heavy reds no more than 18-19C.
Aromatic whites from 9C to oaked chardonnay at 12-13C.
Roughly.
The fridge is too cold for anything (even fizz is better at 8C than 4C), and except in the depths of winter, the house is too warm for anything.
GG

dave vino wrote:I just use an ice bucket with a bit of ice and the rest of water and leave it in that.

Great idea that I use regularly when at restaurants where the ambient temperature is too warm. It's often a golden moment seeing the reaction/body language when you ask some of the less experienced wait staff for an ice bucket for your bottle of red.

daz wrote:

Panda 9D wrote:In my experience I like my wines from Burgundy, both white and red, at roughly the same temperature. Reds a little cooler than most reds, the whites a little warmer. Straight from the cellar is fine for me. The reds can warm a little from there as you drink the bottle but the whites I like to keep at around cellar temp.

How do you keep your white burgundies at around cellar temperature (12-15C) when the ambient temperature is 30+C? Or do you just guzzle?

Buy (an) air conditioner/ing, use an ice bucket or bottle in and out of the fridge and/or small regular pours.

dlo wrote:

dave vino wrote:I just use an ice bucket with a bit of ice and the rest of water and leave it in that.

Great idea that I use regularly when at restaurants where the ambient temperature is too warm. It's often a golden moment seeing the reaction/body language when you ask some of the less experienced wait staff for an ice bucket for your bottle of red.

Thats classic David... I had this sort of fun at a Chinese place at new years.. .great little hidden jem in ashfield, dont even charge corkage... had unbelievable trouble trying to explain we wanted an ice bucket for the rose and for the red to go in the fridge for a while...

then they brought us our tsing tao beers and they were warm.. conclusion: their fridge was turned off anyway. what the??

Red wines such as Pinot Noir should not be served at room temperature. So better have it chilled for more improved taste.

daz wrote:

Panda 9D wrote:In my experience I like my wines from Burgundy, both white and red, at roughly the same temperature. Reds a little cooler than most reds, the whites a little warmer. Straight from the cellar is fine for me. The reds can warm a little from there as you drink the bottle but the whites I like to keep at around cellar temp.

How do you keep your white burgundies at around cellar temperature (12-15C) when the ambient temperature is 30+C? Or do you just guzzle?

I have an air conditioner but usually if its reaching the higher range of drinkability I throw it back in the wine fridge to keep it cool. Everyone else's suggestions work too.

Living in QLD, I utilise a small wine fridge ( 20 bottle capacity ) for current summer drinking....both red & white.
Temp is set at around 17.
Take bottles out of main cellar & place in smaller fridge for enjoyment in the hot & humid conditions.

Cheers

Rudolph