To Chill, or not to Chill....That is the question!

Everyone knows that most red wines are supposed to be served at "room temperature" but few people know what that means. Room temperature for Americans is about 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit); for the English 20 degrees Celsius (69 Fahrenheit); and for Frenchmen about 18 degrees Celsius (65 Fahrenheit). In cities like Tel Aviv or Mexico City, the room temperature of many apartments in mid August can be as high as thirty degrees. This does not mean that wine should be served at different temperatures in different countries. It is time for wine lovers to forget that they ever heard the words "room temperature". Following is a table of the temperatures that are ideal for serving various red and white wines. There is no need to be dogmatic about these temperatures, however, for some people like their reds somewhat warmer and their whites a bit more chilled.

It is always permissible to place a bottle of red wine in the refrigerator for half an hour to bring its temperature down if necessary but if the wine is too cold never (!!!) warm it artificially as this will invariably destroy the wine. It is better to pour it out cold and let it warm in the glasses. A few red wines also require chilling. Depending on personal taste, Nouveau Beaujolais wines and other especially young wines such as Portuguese vinho verde and Austrian heuriger be served lightly chilled or as well chilled as white wines.

White wines, champagnes and rose wines should always be served chilled. As a rule, the sweeter the wine, the colder it should be. If a white wine has a light sparkle to it when it is poured, that means it has been over-chilled. Most white wines are best when served at between 9 - 11 degrees Celsius, sparkling wines are ideally served at between 6 - 8 degrees Celsius and dessert wines at between 4 - 7 degrees.

The most convenient way to chill white wines is in the refrigerator. Once they have been opened and brought to the table, the most elegant way to keep them chilled is to use a silver or other ice bucket expressly designed for this purpose. Remove the cork from the bottle, place the bottle inside the bucket and then add as many ice cubes as will fit in. Finally, fill the bucket nearly to the top with water.