It has been a while since I saw a winemaker as upset as Peter Mathis was last week during a luncheon we had at a cafe that had no air conditioning.
Peter has been involved in winemaking for decades dating to his experiences long ago at Ravenswood. Today he farms red wine grapes in Sonoma Valley. And he’s not shy about stating his opinions.
A wine he brought for me to try was his 2019 grenache, a wine that should be served cool and with food. It’s hefty, but without the high tannins of many substantial red wines.
When we arrived at the cafe, the temperature outside neared 100. Inside it wasn’t much different. I touched the bottle. It was probably about 60 degrees Fahrenheit— cellar temperature.
After he poured the wine, I noted that it was too young to evaluate without aeration, so I swirled the glass and soon noticed that a fascinating aroma was built into this lovely, dark red.
About 15 minutes later I took another sip. So did Peter. And it was then that he blurted out, “If you wanna write a column that will do a great service to the wine industry, you could tell people how important it is to serve wine at the right temperature!”
From the taste of the wine, I knew exactly what he was referring to. His grenache had gotten too warm to enjoy.
At this time of year, with temperatures soaring, anyone drinking red wines at what’s often called room temperature probably experiences unpleasantness. Red wines were never intended to be served at anything close to “room temperature”—not even a room that’s 70 degrees F or anything higher.
In fact, the edict to serve red wines at “room temp” is a misunderstanding of the French term “chambrer,” which refers to how wines in Europe once were stored—in chilly below-ground cellars.
If a red wine was brought up from a cellar for a meal, the cellar temp would be too low to enjoy. So, the wine then was “chambered”— bringing it up to the temperature of the dining room, say 62 F.
Since few European homes had central heating decades ago, and since such edifices had high ceilings and were almost always cool (and drafty?), chambering the wine meant allowing it to rise in temperature from 50 F.
The French “Le Guide Hachette des Vins” explained on its website:
“Chambering a wine is an ancient practice consisting of bringing red wines up from the cellar, to bring them gently to room temperature, before serving. This practice was justified when the cellars were at 8 to 9 degrees Celsius (about 48 degrees F) and the rooms did not exceed 15 to 16 Celsius (62 F).”
What Mathis and I experienced in that hot cafe was a grenache whose temperature was 40 degrees higher than optimum!
I could tell a dozen stories about wines served at the wrong temperatures, including one at a famous Chicago hotel bar. I ordered a glass of a well-known sauvignon blanc. It arrived with slivers of ice floating on top!
There also was the time in a well-regarded Italian restaurant in Manhattan. I ordered a Barolo. The bottle was warm. I asked for an ice bucket to get it to a drinkable (cooler) temperature.
That resulted in a nasty lecture from a snooty waiter who loudly said, “Red wine is never served cold!” The story takes an even nastier turn. Space limitations prevent me from revealing more.
Most people prefer to have their chardonnays quite cold. For most chardonnays, that poses no problems, but when it comes to fine quality chardonnays, 60 F probably is better.
Aromatic whites and/or rose wines like gewurztraminer, riesling, pinot gris and viognier can take more chilling (45 to 50 F), but for maximum enjoyment sauvignon blanc is usually best at 60 to 65 degrees.
Most Beaujolais and some lighter pinot noirs can be slightly chilled, and almost all of them benefit from cooling. When in doubt, cooler is usually better than warmer.
Wine of the Week: 2021 Kysela Pere et Fils Picpoul de Pinet ($14)—Grapefruit and green tea aromas mark the delicate nuances of this crisp white wine from France’s Languedoc. The mid-palate texture is linked to its charming softness. Served cold, it’s as refreshing a glass of wine as you can find for hot-day sipping. It’s often seen for around $10.
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