Free toolThe serving temperature guide

Serve it at the temperature it deserves.

Free serving temperature tool. Pick a wine style, say where the bottle is now, and get the target temperature with exact fridge, freezer, and ice-bucket times.

Where is the bottle now?

Times are for a standard 750 ml bottle. A magnum needs half as long again.

Temperature is the cheapest upgrade

No accessory improves a wine as much as serving it at the right temperature, and none costs less. Too warm, and alcohol muscles past the fruit; too cold, and aromas lock themselves away. The old rule of room temperature for red was coined when rooms were cold, and the modern habit of serving whites straight from a 4°C fridge is just as unkind to anything with texture.

How the times are worked out

The tool starts from where your bottle actually is, the counter, the cellar, or the fridge, and works out how long each method needs: a domestic fridge pulls a bottle down roughly a degree every ten minutes, a freezer three times faster, and an ice-water bath faster still. Warming is slower, about a degree every four minutes on the counter, which is why an over-chilled white recovers more gracefully than an over-warm red. Once the temperature is right, check the bottle is in its prime with the drinking window checker.

Frequently asked.

01.
What temperature should red wine be served at?
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Cooler than most rooms. Light reds like Beaujolais and many Pinot Noirs shine at 12 to 14°C (54 to 57°F), medium reds at 14 to 16°C (57 to 61°F), and full-bodied reds at 16 to 18°C (61 to 64°F). The old advice of room temperature was written for unheated houses.
02.
What temperature should white wine be served at?
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Crisp, unoaked whites are best at 7 to 10°C (45 to 50°F), straight from a proper chill. Fuller, oaked whites like white Burgundy deserve 10 to 13°C (50 to 55°F); too cold and the texture and aromas shut down.
03.
How long does it take to chill wine in the fridge?
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A room-temperature bottle drops roughly one degree Celsius every ten minutes in a domestic fridge, so a white starting at 21°C needs about two hours. The freezer works in about a third of the time, and an ice-water bath with a handful of salt is faster still.
04.
Is it ever right to chill red wine?
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Often. Fifteen minutes in the fridge takes a light red from radiator-warm to alive, and chilled Gamay or Frappato in summer is one of wine's cheapest upgrades. What you should avoid is serving any red above 18°C, where alcohol dominates everything.
Take it further

Every bottle, ready at the right moment.

Sommo tracks what is in your rack and when each bottle peaks, so the right wine is ready before the guests arrive.