Thou Shalt Serve Wine at the Proper Temperature

From years of developing commercial beverages and foods, I have learned a few insider tricks which I apply to wine and wine service.

Years ago, for a large North American beverage manufacturer, I developed, for example, 135 formulae for soft-drinks. Everything from cola to the zippiest ginger ale ever made in this country.

When we took our drinks to market, we conducted massive consumer taste panels, asking consumers to compare them blind to the leading national brand equivalents. Here’s what I learned:

Whichever beverage was colder in the blind tasting, it was automatically rated better by the consumer. ALWAYS.

I personally oversaw the testing of 10,000 consumer soft-drink impressions in different markets and different malls across America.

After I discovered that, by accident, not all the beverages were being chilled identically (some drinks were added to the ice water bath later than others, for example, and didn’t have time to chill down to the same degree as soft-drink cans, which had spent longer time in the cold water) I insisted that going forward, our hired demonstrators would chill ALL the colas and soft-drinks identically, to neutralize the issue of chill. Because until we ensured that all the blind-tasted colas were chilled to the same temperature, the coldest cola was ALWAYS preferred over any other cola brand.

And so it goes. You want to make a chilled soft-drink, or beer, maybe even a white wine appear to “taste” better, which is to say appear “brighter, or more pleasing, or more desirable,” then serve it colder, even REALLY COLDER than anything else to which it’s being compared blind.

I had a conversation with Brian Zipin last week on this subject. He is the amiable, knowledgeable, and super-efficient general manager of Central Michel Richard, one of my favorite restaurants in Washington DC. (The burger, served with Michel Richard’s original, crunchy potato tuille is a MUST-ORDER, as is the hangar steak. You heard it here.)

We were discussing the subject of serving wine at the proper temperature. Brian said that temperature may be the most important element of wine service – and pointed out that too many restaurants fail to understand this.

“On occasion, I have conducted a test with the waitstaff; I serve them three glasses of white wine and ask which they prefer. Most of them think I’m serving three different Chardonnays or Sauvignon Blancs, but in reality, I am serving the same wine chilled to three different temperatures.”

And which one do they ALWAYS prefer?

“The coldest wine always is rated tops,” says Brian.

Now, this is not to suggest to restaurant owners who read Poetry of Food that they start to lower the temperature at which they serve white wines. Because too cold is just too cold, and I find that most Americans treat their white wines as they do their soft-drinks – they like them COLD.

In fact, the proper temperature for a white wine, to strut its middle palate and imbue your palate with the nuances it has to share, is cellar temperature. In the 56 to 58 F degree range. Certainly if it’s a lovely, complex French Burgundy, or a white wine with lots of finesse, fruit and attitude. Wines, like people, don’t really deserve a chilly reception.

Reds, of course, should be a tad warmer. Ironically, I find that too many restaurants serve their reds too warm; room temperature may be a comfortable setting for the patron, but it is too warm for red wine. Almost all reds, certainly young ones, appear more striking if they are served a few degrees below room temperature. And we’re not talking about “room temperature” on a Miami patio in the height of summer. Because THAT’S when you should head for a cold, colder, REALLY COLD iced beer. If you know what I mean.