Wine Cooler (for my reds)
Posted by Theo Heselmans on July 30th, 2007
I recently ordered a small wine cooler (28 bottles max.), at a very interesting price (149 EUR). It got delivered today.
As it only has 1 temperature setting (which I knew up-front), I intend to use it for my Red wines. White wines can be kept in a regular fridge, although 5°C (41°F) is a bit cold; they tend to warm up fast enough, once out of the fridge.
I'm going to keep my reds at 16°C (61°F). Most people (and unfortunately also most restaurants) serve the reds too hot and the whites too cold.
What's your experience with restaurants and wine-temperature ?
Category: Wine | 
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Comments (10)
Oh I am so glad someone else appreciates that red wine should not be served too warm! Sadly in our flat there is not room, currently anyway, to have wine fridges, but we do have a useful gadget which can cool a bottle of wine in 20 minutes or so and our main fridge's temperature can be set to be right for whites. This is not ideal, but it gives us a fighting chance of having wine at the right temperature :)
Interestingly we were at an English Vineyard (Chapel Down, Tenterden, Kent) on Saturday for a tour - for my Father-in-Law's 60th birthday celebrations - and had some lovely wines to taste. They do a lovely dry rose, which is fruity without being too sweet. Perfect for those odd summer days Edinburgh has every so often ;)
Here in Spain you may actually get a Rioja somewhat over-chilled on occasion!
Did you find the cooler online by any chance? It looks like an interesting investment at that price! ;-)
@Simon
I actually ordered it online at { Link } (only in Dutch and French)
I doubt they deliver in Spain. But at least you can see the model number. I'm sure there are other places on the web you can find it. Good luck.
@Kitty
Let's have a nice 'cool' red wine together next year at Lotusphere :-)
And a better quality if possible than the ones they serve at the pool party !
So let me get this straight: you worry about serving your red wines too warm, but God forbid you actually put any ice in your water or soft drinks to actually make them cold enough! :-)
Luckily, I have a basement that keeps the wine at a low enough temp.
@Theo
Definitely. Would love to. Definitely not the stuff they serve at the parties! We'll work out a way to find each other nearer the time - pink carnations in button holes are so last century ;-)
@Kitty,
Let's go for a screwpull around our neck :-)
I'll bring a nice bottle with me, and we'll share it on the lawn at the Dolphin !
We just have to 'find' some decent stemware.
@ Sean
I hate to say this, but
a) it's about dilution of the drink by the ice cubes ;-) and
b) how cold you want water or soft drinks is a matter of personal taste, whereas wine exhibits very different bouquet and flavours at different temperatures. It's like making tea (except green tea) with water that is not boiling. Only the right temperature will bring out the correct flavour.
@ Theo
Perfect. And no issues with stemware. I'm 'good mates' - i.e I spend way too much time there - with the barmen in the Dolphin Lobby bar!
Leo, this topic was written already long ago, but I am wondering if you still have your wine fridge?
I do share your thought that reds should be slightly cooled and such a fridge will help serving the right red immediately.
However, I am thinking about dedicating a small portion of our attic as a conditioned wine room. As I am drinking a lot of 'biodynamical' and 'natural' wines I need to have them stored below 14 degrees Celsius at all cause. Killed already to many bottles due to my current stockage conditions