Temperature Talk

NEW YORK—The waiter at the acclaimed restaurant cocked his head just so, as if that part of his body were particularly taken aback by my request. “But sir,” he said. “It’s a red.” My crime: I had asked for the Italian bottle in question to be plunged into an ice bucket, the silver kind you see positioned next to tables all the time.

I swallowed the words I wanted to say: Thanks, genius. Instead I asked him to taste the wine, which he had just poured. He then had an inkling of what was coming, quickly confirmed on his palate: The wine was at room temperature—and this crowded, bustling dining room was at about 80 degrees. The wine—an excellent bottle—was disjointed and practically sending out an S.O.S. signal. The flavors were cooked, pallid, awful. But after 20 minutes on ice (which the waiter no longer questioned), it came thrillingly into balance.

Most people drink their white wines a bit too cold—if a bottle gets served at refrigerator temperature (40 to 45 degrees), the flavors are muted and locked up. When it warms up to 55 or so, it can open up and show its stuff. This will happen naturally in the glass.

Reds are a much bigger problem—most people don’t store them properly (at no more than 60 degrees), and that means they get served way too warm. Fortunately, temperature is probably the easiest wine mistake to correct.

A brilliant wine consultant friend of mine, Michael Green (michaelgreenwine.com) recommends that people take their white wines out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving, and put their reds in the fridge 15 minutes before serving. I’m with him on the first part but have had more luck giving reds an extra 15 or 30 minutes cool-down time before I pour.

To prove the point, I assembled my regular tasting panel to try a wine served at just under 60 degrees and the same wine at about 80 degrees, side-by-side. A young, tannic, and fruit-packed wine like Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Manachiara ($84) made a good test case. The difference was, as one panelist put it, “astounding.” The too-warm version of this Tuscan beauty was displaying its alcohol, not its flavors, first—a typical symptom of overheating. The wine was oddly flabby and meaty-tasting, for lack of a better phrase. Dead as a doornail.

Then we put our noses into the cellar-temperature glass: Berry bushes, a subtle floral character, and ripe cherries shined through, and all were confirmed on the palate. It was still too young to drink, but the tight focus of this wine, both pretty and powerfully backed by age-worthy tannins, was clear.

So the next time someone brings you a warm red, just give them the direction I gave that waiter: Chill out.

Ted Loos, executive editor of Art & Auction magazine, is the former features editor of Wine Spectator and has written on wine for Bon Appétit, Town & Country, and many other publications. He's the author of Town & Country Wine Companion: A Tasting Guide and Journal (Hearst Books; $12.95), published this fall. "In the Cellar" appears on ARTINFO every other Wednesday.