Most reds don’t benefit from room temp????

[Robert.A.Jr]

Room temp is too warm to me. But room temp in my house is like 78F. lol

Wow, that’s hot. And not the kind of hot that I like.

I prefer the house at 72, wifey prefers it at 68-70. I guess that keeps my shirt on. And even then that’s way too warm for red wine! I prefer most of my reds at cellar temps, say 57, and will start wines like Beaujolais slightly below.

you got that rich “i own multiple homes” money so you can have your AC running all the time

Rich people at the beach should never ever sweat, gotta crank that dual-AC system down!!!

Don’t h8. And don’t be so cheap, LA is hot!

[M.Kaplan]

Americans tend to drink white wines too cold and red wines too warm.

[T_Altmayer]

Americans tend to drink white wines too cold and red wines too warm.

I think that is right. Especially in the Summer when the house is warmer, I do not enjoy a 78 degree wine. I keep the wine in the fridge in between glasses to prevent it from becoming too warm.

[Brad_England]

Peter, assuming room temp is 68-72, the statement in the quote is correct for me. I can’t think of a red I’d prefer to drink at that temperature. Whether they become sloppy etc, is possibly overkill, but again I generally agree with the statement that no reds benefit from room temp. And always would prefer them cooler than that. What are the reds you “like” better at room temp? Any?

[Scott_Brunson]

Depends on the room.

My house in winter is too cold for most reds.

But my house in summer…

[David_Bu3ker]

Schloss Bueker is 74 in summer and 58 in winter.

[TonyD]

For red wine, starting to taste at cellar temp (~56 degrees) and allowing it to warm to ambient has allows worked well for me. The only problem is outdoors on a hot summer day (90+) requires me to drinker faster or provide some cooling for the bottle.

[Colin_Haggerty]

Americans tend to drink white wines too cold and red wines too warm.

[John_Morris]

Room temperature is one of those terms that dates to 19th century England, when rooms were a good bit cooler. If your cellar is 60 degrees rather than 55, cellar temperature is pretty close to what room temperature used to mean.That said, I much prefer my reds to be closer to around 68, or modern room temperature. Cooler than that and I lose some complexity. Certainly, when it gets into the 70s, it does start to get blowsy.

Exactly! And English room temperature even 50 years ago was likely under 65F— maybe well under.

In most American homes, I venture that it’s at least 70 year-round, and in the mid or high 70s at this time of year, even with AC. t that level, alcohol can often become more prominent.

If it’s at all warm, I often put my red (bottle or decanter) in the fridge for a bit, before first pouring, and periodically afterward if I feel the warm temp is detrimental to the wine, which I often find it is.

I’m sipping an ‘18 Ridge Three Valleys zin now (terrific value at $25, classic zin berries) outside at 77F. It was too cold straight out of the fridge, then opened up. After a couple of pours and time in the glass, it’s becoming a bit unfocused, diffused.

[John_Morris]

Schloss Bueker is 74 in summer and 58 in winter.

Sounds like self-denial in wintertime.

[David_Bu3ker]

We like sweatshirts and cats in laps.

[PeterJ]

Peter, assuming room temp is 68-72, the statement in the quote is correct for me. I can’t think of a red I’d prefer to drink at that temperature. Whether they become sloppy etc, is possibly overkill, but again I generally agree with the statement that no reds benefit from room temp. And always would prefer them cooler than that. What are the reds you “like” better at room temp? Any?

I reacted to the article mostly because wine service in restaurants is typically done with reds sitting on your table throughout your meal or decanted and doing the same. In better restaurants the wine is stored at proper temp before service but not in many where they stay at whatever temp the room is cooled to. If my meal takes an hour or more the wine is likely at what most here are saying is not preferred temp during much or all of it.

Also… most winery tasting rooms I’ve been to keep bottles out in the open and I seriously doubt that many of those rooms are kept anywhere close to “cellar temp”.

Reading the article it struck me that, if he’s right, an awful lot of wine service is not done as he suggests so lots reds are done a real disservice.

[David_Glasser]

Americans tend to drink white wines too cold and red wines too warm.

I think that is right. Especially in the Summer when the house is warmer, I do not enjoy a 78 degree wine. I keep the wine in the fridge in between glasses to prevent it from becoming too warm.

This. Intermittent fridge time does the trick in summer when the house is at 75-78.

Prefer reds at 60-65. Whites at 55-60.
Cooler if they’re on the flabby side.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

I’ll nominate traditionally-styled Rioja as a region whose wines benefit from warmer-than-usual serving temperatures.

[HoosJustinG]

Restaurants are obviously mostly outdoors these days, and a little French spot here had a nice trick to keep our big red drinkable outside: decanter on a dinner plate with just about 1/4” of ice water in the plate. Ice cubes were refreshed as they melted … wine stayed cellar temp despite 90+ degree heat.

[Markus_S]

What is room temperature?
In summer, I would think 83F is too warm to serve any wine.

What is cellar temperature?
In summer this goes up as well.

I think any wine can use a chill at first. It can always warm up in your hands.

[John_Kight]

I think he’s overstating it some because not all wines fall apart from being at room temp. . . .Room temp can also vary quite a bit.

If the writer assumes that, for the vast majority, “room temperature” means 70-74 degrees, then I would agree to an extent…and while “fall apart” may be too strong, to me, most wine begins to show flaws (alcoholic heat, syrupy extraction, etc.) and is certainly less enjoyable once the wine is warmer than about 69-70 degrees…I think 60-67 is the sweet spot for most reds, and while that might be “room temperature” in a Scottish castle, it’s not what most people understand to be room temp.

[John_Morris]

I think 60-67 is the sweet spot for most reds, and while that might be “room temperature” in a Scottish castle, it’s not what most people understand to be room temp.

Maybe in a south-facing room on a warm July afternoon.

[Brad_England]

Peter, assuming room temp is 68-72, the statement in the quote is correct for me. I can’t think of a red I’d prefer to drink at that temperature. Whether they become sloppy etc, is possibly overkill, but again I generally agree with the statement that no reds benefit from room temp. And always would prefer them cooler than that. What are the reds you “like” better at room temp? Any?

I reacted to the article mostly because wine service in restaurants is typically done with reds sitting on your table throughout your meal or decanted and doing the same. In better restaurants the wine is stored at proper temp before service but not in many where they stay at whatever temp the room is cooled to. If my meal takes an hour or more the wine is likely at what most here are saying is not preferred temp during much or all of it.

Also… most winery tasting rooms I’ve been to keep bottles out in the open and I seriously doubt that many of those rooms are kept anywhere close to “cellar temp”.

Reading the article it struck me that, if he’s right, an awful lot of wine service is not done as he suggests so lots reds are done a real disservice.

Now I get your point, and agree. I will say that at many restaurants we would have decanters with red put on ice for a bit and/or put into the cellar for a while if we were doing a three hour meal. But that was the good old days. I haven’t been to a restaurant since the March 5th.

[lleichtman]

“Almost no red wines benefit from being room temperature,” he says. “The wine becomes sloppy, alcoholic, and develops sticky aromatics — think overripe fruit — even from cool-climate regions.”

That’s a quote from a VinePair article my wife forwarded to me. The quote is attributed to Michael Kennedy of Component Wine Company. This runs counter to just about everything I know so I thought I’d throw out the article for comment here. I prefer lighter reds, like many Pinots, cooler than room temp, and (obviously) “room temp” is relative. But “most” reds???

Here’s the article:

Why You Should Be Drinking Your Red Wines Chilled, According to Experts | VinePair

Not really sure what room temp means in many places. We do not have air conditioning as it is only necessary for about 2 weeks out of the year here in Santa Fe. That being said our in-house temps vary all over the place from upper 60’s in the winter to low to mid 80’s during the heat. We drink our reds out of the cellar which is 54º then let them warm slightly.