COLD, COLD, COLD

 

Yes, you know that I like Little Feat.

A well known anoenophile in Wainiomartianland has for years been banging on about drinking red wines chilled.

Most sensible people ignored him and added it to his 'raving loony' portfolio but just recently a respected, albeit very ageing, wine critic has published an article that supports the aforementioned loony.

Bob identified a couple of wine styles that respond well to chilling - in this case gamay and pinot noir and picked three wines that are suited to it.

There are no surprises there since gamay and pinot noir can often be light and fruity. Gamay, with its low tannic levels is probably the  best example, and is mostly seen in the form of Beaujolais the French wine style of wine best served young and - chilled. Lighter pinot noirs also are often better tasted chilled, especially during the warmer months.

If a red wine is light in body, fresh and fruity then the chances are that it will be better chilled rather than drunk at room temperature.

That loony I mentioned earlier might by accident ascribe to this but it's more likely that the light, fresh and fruity gamays and pinot noirs he might drink chilled are just a small percentage of the cheap red plonk he stuffs in his refrigerator and freezer.

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In the interests of full disclosure I must admit that for about all of my wine-drinking life (over 50 years now) I have often chilled lighter red wines prior to drinking them and not just roses and sparkling reds. I also keep various opened bottles of wine in the fridge and have a glass before dinner or while cooking and, when it's a red wine I just sip away at that cold whether it's a rose, a light-style red as mentioned or a more solid pinot noir, merlot, shiraz or cabernet sauvignon. I agree with Bob that the cooler the big red wine is that astringency is more pronounced but hey! It hasn't done me any harm.