What’s the right temperature for red wine or white wine?
We’re all aware to some extent that white wine should be served chilled, red wine at room temperature. But this simplified approach to drinking temperatures does not do justice to really fine wines. Read on to find out why not.
The key points
- White wine: 6–10 °C depending on style and sweetness
- Rosé: approx. 7 °C, more complex wines 1–2 °C warmer
- Light red wines: approx. 14 °C, Spätburgunder 16 °C
- Full-bodied red wines: 18 °C, very heavy wines max. 19–20 °C
- ‘Red wine at room temperature’ is outdated (today’s room temperatures are too warm)
Wine and temperature: small differences, big impact
Enjoying the perfect wine comes down to a few key details. The correct serving temperature is particularly important. In fact, with refined and elegant wines, a temperature difference of just a few degrees can have a significant influence on the taste experience. This is why connoisseurs and gourmets usually have high-quality wine storage fridges or wine tempering fridges with different temperature zones. But what temperatures should you set here? As a general rule, the lighter, simpler, younger and sweeter a wine is, the cooler it should normally be served. Conversely, this means that with increasing body, complexity and maturity, the temperature may also be higher.
The ideal temperature for white wine
A very cold serving temperature of 6 °C is normally reserved for sweet sparkling wines such as Moscato d’Asti. Simpler white wines with residual sweetness, such as young Kabinett Rieslings from the Mosel, taste best at 7 °C. Drywhite wines that are not too heavy and champagne should be served at 8 °C. For more powerful wines, for example the great white wines from Burgundy or fuller-bodied Chardonnays from California, you can also add one or two degrees to the temperature. The same applies to special, high-quality vintage champagnes. You can also apply a rule to rosé wine: 7 °C is the ideal temperature for uncomplicated, fruity wines of this type that may also have some residual sweetness, but you should add 1 to 2 °C for more complex and higher quality vines.
Red wine shouldn’t be served too warm either
On the other hand, especially with light, fruity red wines, people often make the mistake of serving them too warm. Wines like this, including those made from varieties such as Trollinger, Pinot Meunier or Portugieser, often taste best straight out of the wine cellar, so at around 14 °C. Spätburgunder – or Pinot Noir, as it’s known in France – is traditionally served at 16 °C. Accordingly, this temperature can be set for almost all medium-weight red wines. Only if these wines, for example high-quality red wines from Burgundy, have gained complexity and depth from maturing can the temperature then also be increased by 1 to 2 degrees. 18 °C is then the ideal temperature for full-bodied red wines with an upstanding structure, so Bordeaux in particular, but also the great Italian wines like Barolo or Brunello di Montalcino.
19 °C is the most palatable temperature for the really heavy wines from the hotter growing regions such as southern Italy, southern France or many regions of Australia. But even red wine should never be served at a temperature of more than 19 or 20 degrees. This is when the fire of the alcohol becomes too prevalent, the transparency of the aroma becomes blurred and in particular the wide-ranging complexity of the aromas that is so typical of a truly great wine collapses.
Should you serve red wine at room temperature?
So the popular notion that red wine is best enjoyed at room temperature can safely be forgotten. That’s because it’s centuries old – and so dates back to a time when rooms got no hotter than 19 °C and were never heated to at least 22 °C, as they are today.
The author
Frank Kämmer
I have worked for many years in high-end restaurants and in this time became one of the top sommeliers in Europe. In 1996, I achieved the title of Master Sommelier, the highest international qualification in my profession. Today, I work primarily as a consultant in the international wine and gastronomy sector. I have also published numerous books on wines and spirits and was the first German to be accepted into the British Circle of Wine Writers.
