The Top Tip You Need For Perfectly Chilled Wine

When the weather warms up, it's only natural that you want to reach for a chilled glass of wine. Whether you're a Sauvignon Blanc baby or prefer to rosé all day, the most important factor in summer wine drinking is to make sure your wine is perfectly chilled before you start sipping because nothing's worse than a wine that's served at the wrong temperature. 

To get the facts straight, we spoke to Rodolphe Boulanger, the vice president of wine merchandising at Total Wine & More. His top tip for chilling wine to the perfect temperature is a tried and true method that sommeliers around the world swear by: Grab a bucket that fits ice, water, and a wine bottle and fill it up. "If you need to chill a wine quickly at home, 15 to 20 minutes in an ice bucket filled with ice and water will do the trick," said Boulanger.

Most of the time when you're out shopping for wine, you'll find bottles on shelves or in racks stored at room temperature, but that doesn't mean that's how you should serve it. It's not feasible to have refrigeration or chilled rooms in every wine shop, and it's not necessary either because the wine is perfectly safe stored at that temperature, which is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. "Unless you plan on serving the wine immediately, you don't need to purchase it chilled," said Rodolphe Boulanger, whose company operates 267 wine superstores in 28 states. "The store's temperature should only be a concern if it's too hot. Wine will be damaged and spoil faster if stored above room temperature — 68 to 72 degrees — for a prolonged period of time. Wine can be damaged with brief exposure to higher temperatures."

Most of the time it's on you, the drinker, to chill the wine to an appropriate temperature before it's served. You might be surprised to know that most wine tastes better when served colder than room temperature, but white, pink, light red, and sparkling wines are especially sensitive to heat, and it's best to pour them between 45 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's pretty easy to forget to chill a wine (and sometimes inconvenient) before it's time to serve it, especially if you're grabbing a bottle on the go, so it's always a good idea to keep ice and a bucket handy if you regularly drink wine. Despite all the tips and tricks out there for cooling a bottle, it's the best method, according to Rodolphe Boulanger, who added that his company's stores will also chill a bottle for you. "Most Total Wine stores have chillers filled with circulating cold water that can chill a bottle in minutes," he said. Many other well-equipped wine stores can do the same, too, if you ask.

If you're at home with a warm bottle of wine, however, and you really can't wait the 15 or so minutes it takes to chill a bottle in regular ice water, add a few tablespoons of salt to the water and rotate the bottle continuously, which will lower the freezing point of the water and chill your wine in five minutes flat. Just whatever you do, don't add ice cubes to your glass if you're drinking an expensive bottle of wine. Save the cubes for cheap bottles, or freeze small pieces of fruit and make a batch of summer sangria instead.