We Bet You're Serving White Wine Too Cold If You Grab It Straight From The Fridge

All wines — white, red, rosé, and sparkling — have ideal serving temperatures that allow their aromas and flavors to come alive on the palate. For white wines, the sweet spot is between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Joe Mele, a sommelier and co-host of The Wine Pair Podcast, serving (or drinking) overly chilled white wine happens more frequently than we realize. 

Mele tells The Takeout that one of the biggest culprits for way-too-cold white wine is drinking it straight out of the fridge. "A white wine is going to be fine right out of the fridge, but you will find that it lacks strong aromas and flavors because the cold tamps them down," he says. Depending on what you're pouring, this means you could miss big, oaky flavors from a chardonnay or the crisp, bright acidity from a sauvignon blanc, like the one Giada De Laurentiis buys in cases. But there's a quick solution. 

"Following the 20/20 rule, taking the wine out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving it will allow the wine to get a little warmer — like in the 50 degrees Fahrenheit range — and you will find that they have much more depth in scent, taste, and mouthfeel," shares Mele. Pro tip: Pairing the right foods with white wine enhances the tasting experience, too.

Mele has a couple of suggestions for making sure white wine reaches a perfect sipping temperature. If a white wine has been left on the rack at room temperature, stick it in your freezer. "You can put wine in the freezer for 20 minutes or so, and spin it around in the freezer once at the 10-minute mark," explains Mele. This helps to evenly chill the bottle. "Or you can wrap the wine bottle in a wet towel and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes." This helps to speed up the cooling process, especially if you want to drink the wine in the next hour or sooner.

One other option is to create an ice bath for the wine, but be careful to avoid one simple mistake when creating an ice bath. "Immerse the bottle in a bucket of ice water for 20 minutes or so. You are going to have a drippy bottle of wine, and leaving it in the ice bucket can actually make it too cold, so watch for that," warns Mele.  When it's chilled, gently dry off the bottle, pour the wine, and enjoy.