The Big Chill
In wine drinking, there are simple and excusable faux pas, like serving a white wine in a red wine glass or pairing red wine with fish. If those are the only glasses available, and if you prefer red wines and are craving fish, no one should raise an eyebrow. Then there are “I am just a pure newbie and don’t give a rip” kind of faux pas that have memes made, thanks to them, leaving wine drinkers all over social media cringing. Adding cranberry juice to Château Lafite-Rothschild, drinking Château Cheval Blanc from a Styrofoam cup, taking shots of Cristal Champagne, putting ice cubes in your red wine…wait a second. Cooling down your red wine is not really a heinous offense. In fact, there are several reasons why we should chill our reds.
The first is that red wines are often served too warm. Most restaurants do not have ideal storage for red wines, and either they are stored in the refrigerator, which in that case, the wine is too cold — or the wine is kept at room temperature, which in Hawai‘i is typically around 80°F, or at best, air-conditioned storage around 72°F. The Court of Master Sommelier service standards recommend the following for red wines: light-bodied 50-59°F, medium-bodied 55-62°F, and full-bodied 58-65°F. I would also add that if the wine is older, say 30 years or more, it should be served around the 65°F range.
What this is effectively doing to the wine is muting the alcohol and allowing for the fruit and other aromatics of the wine to shine (and not be obfuscated by the alcohol content). You will enjoy more of the fruit nuances, terroir, sweet wood, and spices, etc., more than just the heat or burn of the alcohol. Take care not to chill it down too cold, lest all the aromatics be muted, and the tannin and bitterness is accentuated.
As you can see, there are a whole host of reds that can be chilled. The area that comes to mind first when thinking of these chilled reds, especially during the warm months of late summer, is Beaujolais. The grape here is gamay, a thin-skinned berry that when made well has an exuberant, juicy grapeyness that explodes from the glass, is thirst-quenching and refreshing even. Beaujolais is like the younger, funnier, jovial and optimistic brother to pinot noir. It can be serious but tries not to take itself too seriously. Perhaps the best example of this crushable and gulp-worthy form of gamay is Domaine Lapierre’s Raisins Gaulois. It is loaded with juicy and rambunctious red fruit, smooth and light on the palate with strawberry, cherry and raspberry flavors; served chilled, it just disappears down your palate. For a more serious version of Beaujolais, you must find Domaine Jean Foillard’s Morgon Côte du Py. This is one of the top producers and can rival many of the wines from the Côte d’Or for complexity, intensity and satisfaction, not to mention they can age gracefully for decades. Have it with oeufs en meurette or charcuterie, assorted cow milk cheese, and your favorite pâté on freshly baked artisan bread — a picnic made in heaven.
As much as I would love to talk about my favorite grape, pinot noir, there is another grape that really shines being slightly chilled and it comes from Italy. That grape is dolcetto, aka “the little sweet one.” This autochthonous Italian grape grows primarily in the Piedmont and produces wine which is darker than Beaujolais but has a similar juiciness and succulence without a lot of tannin. Some producers try to make a more serious version of Dolcetto, but the playful and vibrant every day version delights my palate the most. Piero Benevelli’s Dolcetto d’Alba ‘La Costa’ is a perfect example of the ripe exuberant fruit with soft tannins. Bruno Giacosa’s version is another excellent version with tons of fruit and floral components leading to a more supple and juicy palate. Drink with olives, tomato-based pastas and even Mediterranean-inspired fish dishes.
Now be sure to cool down that bottle of red and never hesitate to request your bottle to be chilled by the sommelier, if it happens to be too warm. They should be happy to put it on ice. On the other hand, asking them for ice to put into your wine may elicit a slightly different reaction.