It goes without saying that the way wine is stored and treated greatly affects the benefits you gain from drinking it.
Not everyone has a wine cellar in their home and often a supply of wine is stored at room temperature.
When it comes to the drinking of wine, particularly with white wines, rose and champagne, cooling the wine is essential.
Ideally wine should be stored at about 55 degrees F or 13 degrees C.
Many people simply place the wine to be consumed in their fridge to help in the chilling process.
Why Chill Wine in the First Place?
Certainly enjoyment is a key factor.
If all wine tasted the same then handling wine the same way would make sense.
But as we know there are many differences between the many different types of wine and white wine in particular shows off its taste and aroma to the full when served chilled.
How you chill it is up to you.
Bucket or Wine Chiller?
An ice bucket, the sort you often see in a restaurant and which has its own stand and is placed beside the diners’ table, can be used at home.
This helps maintain the chilled temperature of the wine during your meal.
About half the bucket is filled with ice and a small amount of rock salt is recommended.
But there are many varieties of wine chillers on the market with varying “extras” and at varying costs.
There is an aerator which not only aerates your wine but claims to chill it as well.
A so-called rapid ice cooler claims you have no need to place the wine in the fridge beforehand. It does the cooling job there and then on your table.
These chillers in different colours, claim to chill your wine from room temperature to the required temperature in five minutes and then to keep the wine cool throughout your meal.
With an ice bucket, you get the same result of chilling your wine and maintaining its temperature but you need to supply the ice and salt.
And you are advised to have the wine chilled before it is placed in your bucket. With a chiller, the device does the chilling for you and maintains the temperature throughout.
Wine Chiller Choices
There are many. You can buy a wine chiller for as little as $30 and you can lash out on a sterling silver model worth thousands.
Yes, that’s correct. $5000 for a wine chiller sounds extravagant but as a functional item and as a decorative piece of tableware it certainly gets the conversation, not to mention the wine flowing.
Arguably the all-in-one item which allows you to aerate, chill, pour and not spill a drop, may be an ideal gift for any wine connoisseur.
Once the bottle is opened, the device is placed into the top of the bottle and the rest is done for you.
The aerator is also a cooler and so chills your wine on the table.
There are many ways to chill your wine and the Wine Chiller is certainly a viable option.