Oh wine, my love, I’m hot or cold for you!
Hot or cold for wine? I know how silly that must sound! Of course my love for wine is always steamy, dreamy and hot! I truly do love wine! So what the heck do I mean by hot or cold? As summer heat begins to bear down upon us (I’m in Texas, remember!), it dawned on me how many ways temperature can impact wine. And becuase I am the consumate nerd, I simply had to write about it! Let’s explore a few of the most significant ways temperature can impact wine:
Hot or cold in the vineyard
Grapes grow on vines. Vines are plants. Plants need sun. Sun brings heat. Heat creates sugar. Sugar in grapes that is. Cooler climates allow grapes to ripen slowly and extends the growing season. At harvest, these grapes will tend to have lower levels of sugar translating to lower alcohol, fresh and crisp wines. On the other hand, grapes from hot climate vineyards ripen earlier and are likely to have much higher sugar levels at harvest. Bigger, bolder, higher alcohol wines (think back to my W.O.W. covering Silver Ghost) are the result. Either way, I’m still in love!
Hot or cold in the winery
Temperature also matters in the wine making process. During fermentation, white wines are often kept in chilled tanks too keep fresh fruit flavors and higher levels of acidity intact. Red wines ferment at much higher temperatures allowinig their tannins, fruits, acidity and alcohol levels to be bold but still balanced. All wines undergo the same “chemistry formula” where yeast dukes it out with sugar resulting in alcohol. Doing so hot or cold simply creates different styles of love in the bottle.
Hot or cold in the glass
Room temperature my friends, is NOT the temperature we keep our homes on average. Room temperature related to red wines is the temperature of a wine cellar, or about 10-15 degrees farenheit lower! White wines, rose wines and bubbles should be kept even cooler in order to enhance their flavors and aromas. Keep that bottle of wine on your counter, or even worse, on top of your refrigerator and it will taste dull, flat and downright boring. Even the best wines in the world don’t shine unless served at the right temperature. Store your wines at the right temperature or chill those reds for a few minutes before you pour and I promise youi’ll thank me!
Whether you are a ”summer heat be damned” or a ”summer heat, bring it on” kind of person, I hope you found this little lesson on how temperature, hot or cold, impacts wine from vineyard to bottle! Curious to learn more, check out DOMSOM’s wine education online course! Hot or cold, I love wine!
Cheers! 🍷
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