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Top Tips on the Perfect<br />
Temperature to Store<br />
and Serve Wines<br />
It’s all very well buying up the delicious<br />
French wines you sampled<br />
on your last vineyard tour, but<br />
when you get them home do you<br />
know how to store them so that<br />
when you eventually open them they taste<br />
their very best? What about the ideal<br />
temperature to serve them at?<br />
Here’s our guide to keeping<br />
and serving the French wines<br />
you love at exactly the right<br />
temperature to get the very most<br />
from them.<br />
The Importance of Temperature<br />
for Storage<br />
The temperature at which<br />
you store your bottles will<br />
determine the eventual flavour<br />
and balance of the drink: too<br />
warm and it may cause it to age<br />
prematurely too cold and flavours<br />
and aromas will be damaged.<br />
That being said, the worst<br />
enemy to your favourite tipple<br />
is any dramatic fluctuations in<br />
temperature.<br />
While all wines differ<br />
slightly and things such as the<br />
alcohol level, fruit content and<br />
tannin level will all affect the<br />
optimum storage temperature,<br />
there are general guidelines<br />
about the temperatures at which<br />
bottles should be stored that you<br />
can follow.<br />
Reds– between 12ºC and<br />
19ºC Whites and rosés –<br />
between 8ºC and 12ºC<br />
Champagne – between 5ºC<br />
and 8ºC Perfect Storage Spaces<br />
Of course, in a perfect world<br />
we would all have our own cellar<br />
or temperature-controlled<br />
room for our bottles. As this is a<br />
little beyond the reach of many<br />
of us, the next best option is a<br />
specialist fridge which can regulate<br />
the temperature of its contents.<br />
Failing that, most of us will<br />
have to make do with a household<br />
cupboard in a cool location.<br />
Don’t be tempted to store<br />
white wine, rosé or champagne<br />
in the fridge as it will lose its<br />
flavour and bouquet.<br />
It is worth bearing in mind<br />
the key rules of wine storage:<br />
Don’t store bottles close to<br />
something with a strong odour<br />
Keep bottles in the dark<br />
(even if that means wrapping<br />
them in cloth)<br />
Don’t move bottles about too<br />
much Optimum Serving Temperatures<br />
When you have tasted<br />
quality French wines in a good<br />
restaurant or on a wine tour, you<br />
may have been bowled away by<br />
the depth and complexity of flavours;<br />
in part, that will have had<br />
something to do with the exact<br />
temperature they were served<br />
at.<br />
Whites and rosés<br />
In this country we are very<br />
used to having our whites<br />
served chilled but actually the<br />
right temperature to get the<br />
most from its flavour is between<br />
8-10ºC. As the centre of most<br />
domestic fridges are substantially<br />
colder than this, it is<br />
worth keeping whites out of the<br />
fridge and then placing them in<br />
the fridge door for no more than<br />
an hour before serving.<br />
That being said, rosé,<br />
cheaper whites or sweet whites<br />
should be served slightly colder<br />
at between 4-8ºC, so they<br />
should be put in the fridge two<br />
hours before serving.<br />
Champagne and Sparkling<br />
Like sweet whites, champagne<br />
should be served cold,<br />
between 4-8ºC, so will need two<br />
hours in the fridge before serving.<br />
Reds<br />
When guidelines about serving<br />
reds at ‘room temperature’<br />
first came about we did not all<br />
live in the well-insulated, centrally<br />
heated homes of today.<br />
Reds should be served between<br />
14-<strong>18</strong>ºC, which for most bottles<br />
will mean that it requires a little<br />
chilling. Putting a bottle in<br />
the fridge for 30 minutes should<br />
help to bring down the temperature<br />
to the right level.<br />
Of course if you keep your<br />
reds in a cellar or cool storage<br />
then you may need to warm<br />
them slightly – be very careful<br />
as warming can seriously damage<br />
a wine.<br />
Plan ahead and take it out of<br />
storage at least three hours in<br />
advance.<br />
Follow these guidelines<br />
and you’ll be able to enjoy<br />
the French wines you’ve<br />
bought home with you as if<br />
you were back on your river<br />
cruise, enjoying your leisurely<br />
tour through the vineyards of<br />
France.<br />
Kzn Lifestyle Magazine • Issue <strong>18</strong><br />
7