By Justin Persons
Special to the Turnagain Times
I Love this time of year in Alaska. The cottonwood trees remind me of a fireworks display with their vivid colors of yellow, orange and reddish-brown. My favorite display is across Turnagain Arm in the valley of Hope. Beautiful! I wish our Fall colors lasted a bit longer. The termination dust is coming quickly and the temperature is dropping even quicker. Speaking of temperature, let’s discuss how important it is to wine.
Along with who and where you are when enjoying wine, nothing else is more important than temperature. Serving wines too cold mutes their aromas, too warm and the wine is out of balance and the flavors are way off. The old rule of thumb, “reds at room temperature,” is a myth and was established when the average temperature in a French dining room hovered at 60 degrees.
White wines served ice cold are also an abomination. Wrong temperatures don’t violate any strict rules of etiquette, it’s just that the wines taste so far from their best. Let’s look deeper at the science behind why wine temperatures matter.
Our sense of smell can only detect vapors. Red wines have a heavier molecular weight and are thus less “smelly” than white wines. Their aromas are harder to detect. Red wines need to warm to the point where their aromatic elements begin to vaporize—this is why swirling wine in a glass releases more aromas because wine vaporizes rapidly on the sides of the glass.
Heavier, full-bodied reds (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Zinfandels) need to be served warmer than lighter reds. (Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Beaujolais.) Tannins (the drying sensation in the mouth) are much more apparent at cooler temperatures. Therefore, the warmer a tannic red is served, the more open and smoother it will taste. But in my opinion it is best to serve reds too cold than too warm because it is easier to warm a wine up in a glass than to cool it down. The wine will warm fairly quickly and you can cup your hands around the glass to speed up the process. I keep the cellar at the Double Musky for red wine at 58-61 degrees.
The textbook temperature ranges are as follows: Light reds: 53-59 degrees. Full bodied reds: 59-65 degrees. As you can see a couple of degrees makes a big difference!
As for white wines, dry wines are better served warmer than sweet wines. The sweeter the wine, the colder the better. Just like tannins, acidity is more pronounced at lower temperatures. So white wines that are high in sugar can be given more perceived “zip” by serving them cold.
For those of you who don’t have a wine cellar at your house don’t worry! Here a couple tips to get close to cellar temperatures. Put red wines in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes and that will get it close to the right temperature. I know most of us keep our houses warm and our wines up on the counter where it’s most likely 70 plus degrees! Experiment to see how long to put your reds in the fridge.
To get a white wine to the right temperature, take it out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before serving. Proper white wine temperatures range from 39-57 degrees but 45 is pretty much optimal. Also to chill wine quickly, place it in a bucket of ice water. Not just ice because that doesn’t touch enough of the bottle surface. In a restaurant, if served a warm bottle of red (very common) don’t hesitate to ask for an ice bucket. I do it all the time.
Of course, as with all aspects of wine drinking, this is all subjective. Everyone does their own thing and there’s is no right or wrong. I bought my sister a nice $50 bottle of wine at her house in Florida last year and she then put ice cubes in it! If you like a glass of Chardonnay heated in the microwave on “HIGH” for one minute, then that is the right temperature for you. Whatever floats your boat. Some of the rituals and attentions paid to wine are absurd, while others make all the difference between mere satisfactory and truly delightful.
Enjoy the Fall and until next time when we’ll explore another grape and the wine it creates.
Justin Persons is co-owner of the Double Musky Inn restaurant in Girdwood.