Last week, we shared our suggestions for some of the best red wines that you can try during the winter months. Hopefully, you’re already stocking up for what promises to be a chilly winter. And maybe you already have fantasies of drinking the wine floating around in your head.
You pop the cork and eagerly pour the wine into the glass.
You get caught up in conversation before you start drinking. The family’s around and you’re sharing in some great times together. Finally, you take that first sip and…
Something isn’t right!
The wine doesn’t taste as you expected it to. In fact, it’s almost disappointing!
Does this mean you bought a bad wine?
Perhaps.
However, we’d argue that there may be another culprit at play – winter itself.
Just as direct contact with sunlight can have an effect on the Italian wines that you drink, so too can exposure to cold weather. And if you’re looking forward to enjoying a wine that will make those winter months just a little bit warmer, those effects can lead to disappointment.
You want to enjoy the rest of 2020 as best you can. It’s already been a tough year without the cold weather putting paid to your wine as well. To make sure that doesn’t happen, these are the top tips for drinking wine in the winter.
Serve Whites a Little Warmer
For those who don’t want to abandon their favourite white wines, even as winter takes hold, there’s a little fiddling that you need to do when it comes to temperature.
Typically, you chill your white wines to between 7 and 13 degrees Celsius, depending on the type of wine. But if you’re drinking in the cold, especially if you’re going to take the wine outside, you might need to make a slight adjustment.
We recommend bumping up the serving temperature by a degree or two. This gives the wine the chance to sit and chill in the cold weather without it becoming so cold that it changes the taste.
Of course, if you’re drinking in the warm confines of your own home, you won’t need this tip. But if you’re hosting people and you head outside, this may just help your white wines maintain their quality.
Bust Out the Winter Warmers
Most people lean towards Italian red wines when making their winter selections.
However, what you may not know is that there are some reds that are more suited to the cold weather than others. There’s even a name for them in the industry – winter warmers.
These are the wines that give you that lovely warm feeling that you really want when the cold starts to bite. And the good news is that there are plenty of reds that fall into this category.
Examples include Shiraz, Zinfandel, Pinotage, and that old Italian favourite Amarone. Each of these wines will help you to combat the chill of winter. And in the case of Amarone, you’ll also be enjoying an old Italian favourite that gives you just a little bit of sweetness to go along with its warmth.
Be Wary of Overheating
You might think that the best solution to the effects that cold weather can have on wine is to warm it up. That’s exactly what we recommend with white wines just a moment ago. However, you will also notice that we only recommended a temperature change of a degree or two.
Anything more than that and you don’t have to worry about the cold changing the wine.
You’ll be doing that yourself with the heat instead.
Here’s a classic mistake.
You’re outside in your coat and gloves, enjoying the cold weather with friends. You’re holding your glass of wine by the bowl in your gloved hand. Over time, the heat your body generates will warm up the glass, which warms up the wine inside. And that will happen regardless the cool nip in the air.
This probably won’t be too much of a problem with red wines, which you generally want to enjoy at room temperature. But with whites, even something as simple as holding the glass in a particular way can lead to the accidental overheating that changes the composition of the wine.
Storage is Important Too
The typical advice when storing wines is to place them somewhere dry and cool. That’s why cellars are the go-to for wine storage, if you’re lucky enough to have one. If you’re not, your wine bottles might get relegated to a rack in a cool part of the kitchen.
Usually, this isn’t a problem.
But let’s say you leave the house for a couple of days and choose not to keep your heating on. During those two days, there’s a big cold spell that makes the kitchen freezing cold.
Guess what’s going to happen to your wines?
They’re going to get chilled to the point where you’re no longer storing them at their ideal temperature. When you come to pour them, that storage mishap might just lead to a different taste.
Our tip here is to do whatever you can to keep the temperature consistent and suited to the wine for as long as you store it. Winter can have its effects long before you pour the first glass.
The Final Word
Who knew that the cold could have such a strange effect on Italian wine?
You probably do if you’ve paid attention to our previous posts about the importance of storage and drinking temperatures. And as we approach the festive season, it’s likely that you’re going to have even more reasons to drink outside as the weather gets colder.
Don’t allow that choice to affect the quality of your Italian wines.
With these four tips, you ensure that your wines still taste as great as they ever did, regardless of how cold it gets. Now, you just need to get your hands on some winter warmers that are ideal for the colder months. You can find plenty in the Xtrawine catalogue.
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