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Ice Ice Baby - Chilled Summer Reds

Written By: Romany Reagan on Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Are those ice-cubes clinking in your cab? Why it's ok (gasp!) to put your reds on ice this summer.

My apartment doesn't have air conditioning. This tragedy is born from a combination of long work hours, lack of car and a questionable financial position. Thus, for this article I find myself focused on temperature again. When the heat makes all your thoughts fall right out of your head, you reach for the classic summer beverage: an cool white wine. But what if we could expand our options? What would you say to a chilled red wine? It seems that more and more people recently have deemed this acceptable. You can find yourself at a summer party and watch with horror as guests plunk chubby ice cubes into their Pinot. Well, don't get out the judgment stick just yet... Granted, you probably wouldn't want to chill a red to the point of a white, but some reds really can hold up to the temperature drop.

Colder temperatures practically shut off aroma, so some complexity is lost; the best bets are simpler wines that won't be wasted by this shift. Focus on fruit and stay away from tannins, which get bite-your-cheek bitter when chilled. "Chilled" for reds is really only around 50 or 60 degrees. Once you bring your red home, about 20 min in the fridge should do it. Or if you're cellaring your own wine, chances are it is already in that range -- both reds and whites should be kept between 45 and 65 degrees. If you're outdoorsing it barbeque-style, about 15 to 20 minutes in an ice bucket will do the same trick. Note: Add water to your ice bucket. When the bottle is cradled by cold allover, not just where the corners of the cubes touch it, cooling is MUCH faster.

Some of the best red bets for chilling are Beaujolais, barbera, gamay and pinot noir. You can venture out into some zinfandels and cabernet sauvignons -- but this will be on a case-by-case basis and your own preferences. Mostly go for the lighter versions of these varietals and you could stumble upon something exciting. More expensive wines tend to have more character, so staying in the cheaper range is a quick n' dirty measure of which wines will chill better. I'd say anything over $15 would be a waste of the wine, but once again, it's a case-by-case situation -- heck, you have the rest of the summer to try them all!!!

I think it's so funny how judgmental people tend to get around wine. Maybe it's because we associate good wine with world trips, the culinary elite, becoming a discerning adult and secret knowledge. There's such a cliquishness that occurs in people otherwise very forgiving, they really want to be in that club. I think it's too hot out (and IN if you're a fellow member of the No AC Brigade) to deny someone some summertime refreshment. So say no to arbitrary cliques! Say no to snobbishness from strangers! That girl over there arching her eyebrow at the ice cube you just plunked into your glass is wearing Payless shoes -- so plunk away.

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