So, your cousin visited you recently and brought a couple of bottles of good South African wine and you want to store the bottles for a special occasion. You ve heard that red wine should be stored at room temperature but you re wondering which room and in which season does the red wine temperature get taken! You don t even know if there is a red wine grape let alone an optimal temperature for storing your wine.
The cousin told you that red wine temperature in South Africa is definitely room temperature in winter but that the wine has to be chilled when served in summer. He also mumbled on about visiting the various cellars of the Cape Winelands and observing that the red wine temperature in these cellars is optimal for the varietals. He could quite easily have spoken to you in South African Afrikaans for all that you understood of his explanations
Time To Type Red Wine Temperature Into Your Google Searchbar!
You ll find loads of information on the internet including set degrees for red wine temperature based on storing the different types of red wine. The less complicated explanations will give you a general description though of what constitutes a reasonable room temperature for serving. You will also find references to cellar temperature which is the temperature at which you should be storing your two precious gift bottles. You ll probably find that the average red wine temperature, i.e. a temperature at which most varietals will keep well, to be recommended around 55 degrees.
The main reason for being particular about red wine temperature for both storage and serving is, of course, the end taste. Red wines have a strong taste that can be a little ascerbic on the palate if served at a warmish room temperature. When the red wine temperature is just slightly reduced, the alcohol in the wine does not give one that unpleasant bite that tends to put off many people who are new to red wine sampling. This bite is what is inclined to make the regular white wine drinker stick to his / her wine of choice rather than try out the marvellous varieties of red wine on the market today.
Most good red wine should be stored for some time to make the most of its taste as it contains tannin which needs to mellow with time in order to be fully appreciated along with the other aspects of the wine-making process. The main idea is that you savour and enjoy your red wine and that you do not serve it too warm.