What Temperature Is Wine Best Stored And Served At?

You may have heard the old adage “refrigerate white wine and drink red wine at room temperature,” but it is simply not true.

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