Despite being “aged,” wine is a perishable product. If you store it at 100 degrees, it will lose its flavor. However, if you store it at 3 degrees, just as much damage will be caused.

The trick is to store it at an ideal, stable temperature, and then to serve it at a temperature which best shows off its personal characteristics.

Serve the wine too cold, and all of the flavors will be hidden. Serve it too hot, and all you’ll taste is alcohol.

More than half of the enjoyment of wine is involved in the aroma. The taste has only four aspects; salty, sweet, sour, and acid. Your nose does the rest of the work.

You see, vapors are created as the wine becomes warmer. So, you want your wine to be just a few degrees below the ideal drinking temperature for this to work. Room temperature is rarely, if ever, a good temperature to serve wine at. Being too warm makes white wine taste dull and red wine too alcoholic.

Here are the best general temperatures for drinking wine at. Remember, however, the temperature of the room will be relative to this ‘idea temperature’. If your room is 60°F and you are serving a fine Burgundy, you’ll want to chill the Burgundy to 58°F to allow it a little breathing and warming up in the glass.
Temperatures are in Farenheit:

66  Vintage Port
64  Bordeaux, Shiraz
63  Red Burgundy, Cabernet
61  Rioja, Pinot Noir
59  Chianti, Zinfandel
57  Tawny/NV Port, Madeira
55  Ideal storage for all wines
48  Chardonnay
47  Riesling
45  Champagne
43  Ice Wines
41  Asti Spumanti

Every wine drinker has their own preference for what wine they like to drink. You should also develop a preference for your wine glasses. Because, believe it or not, the glass you drink from plays a major role in your overall satisfaction with the wine.

Red wine glasses are different than white wine glasses. While a red wine glass resembles an egg, a white wine glass will be thinner more resemble a tulip.

A white wine glass has a smaller opening. This is essential to your flavor and enjoyment. It allows for less aeration, or breathing. Since white wine is usually enjoyed server colder than red, this keeps the temperature cooler, longer. And, since the “bowl” of the glass is smaller, less hand-to-glass contact occurs, also preserving the temperature.

On the other hand, the red wine glass has a larger opening and a larger bowl. You’ll want to drink your red wine at a slightly warmer temperature. The increased aeration accomplishes this, and having more hand-to-glass contact won’t hurt the flavor.

Going smaller yet, we get into champagne glasses. Champagne is actually wine that has been processed differently to obtain the carbonation and sweetness. The glass, or “flute,” that you’ll drink champagne out of is even thinner than the white wine glass, and has a smaller opening. This allows it to remain chilled longer and retains the carbonation better.

So, the next time you go out to buy wine glasses, remember, they’re not only nice to look at, they’re functional as well.