How to serve wine at the best temperature?

Wine needs to be stored and served at the right temperature to achieve the best possible taste.
Because wine is perishable, storing it at extreme temperatures will damage it.

It’s safe to say that most kiwis serve their reds too warm and their whites too cold.  Serving wine at the correct temperature is a bit of a challenge. The old adage ‘serve reds at room temperature and refrigerate whites’ doesn’t hold true.  If you serve a wine too cool, the flavours will be disguised and if you serve wine too hot alcohol becomes the dominant taste.

Serving a wine at the right temperature is a hard task as you have to take into account several elements like: the presence of tannins, the structure of the wine, its age, the style of the wine...etc

However, to give a few advices, the table below shows advices on serving temperatures according to the variety you are drinking:

39 deg	Warm bath
15 - 17 deg	‘Complex’ Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec
14 - 16 deg	‘Easy drinking’ Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec
10 – 12 deg	Rose wines
11 - 12 deg	Chardonnay, Viognier, Chenin
9 - 11 deg	Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris
7 – 10 deg	Champagne, Dessert wines
2-4 deg	Fridge temperature

The ideal serving temperature for red wines is around 14ºC to 18ºC, which is cooler than most homes.  Therefore we recommend sometimes placing reds in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.

The ideal serving temperature for white wines is around 7ºC to 13ºC, which is warmer than most fridges (typically 4ºC).  We recommend storing whites in the fridge and removing them 1 hour before serving.  Unless of course you are serving a cheap white then perhaps leave it in the fridge right up until serving to disguise the poor quality!

And, if you have wine leftover consider storing it in the fridge as it will last between 5 to 10 times longer.