What if your wine’s the right price, but the wrong temperature? You can search high and low across the globe for the tastiest wine with the most enchanting flavors. You could spend tons of money doing it too. But, there’s one key to enjoying a glass of wine that many people seem to overlook. It’s not about the wine you buy or how high the price tag. Rather, it’s about how you drink it.
Wine drinking is all about keeping your beverage at the right temperature. So how do we ensure our drink stays chill?
White Wines Need to Chill Out
White wines are at their prime and taste the best when they’re chilled. As you likely know, it’s not serving wine at the right temperature that’s the issue. The real challenge is to maintain the right temperature of your drink.
When you hold a glass of wine, your body temperature, the atmospheric temperature, light, etc. start warming the glass and your drink of choice inside it. In fact, your wine’s temperature has already gone up a couple of degrees as soon as you pour it in the glass. Over time, the heat from your hand will warm the wine by up to 20 degrees easily. Yikes!
Right Wine, Wrong Temp?
Different wines taste the best at different temperatures. While 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit is accepted as a good basic temperature for most white wines, the proper temperature for individual white wines was also decided way back in the day. Here’s a wine type and temperature chart breaking it down:
Type of Wine |
Name examples |
Temperature in oC |
Temperature in oF |
Light bodied dessert wine |
Trockenbeerennauslese |
6 to 10 |
43 to 50 |
White sparkling wine |
6 to 8 |
43 to 46 |
|
Light bodied white wine |
Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc |
6 to 8 |
43 to 46 |
Full bodied dessert wine |
Madeira, Oloroso Sherry |
8 to 12 |
46 to 54 |
Medium bodied white wine |
Chardonnay, Semilion |
9 to 11 |
48 to 52 |
Full bodied white wine |
White burgundy, oak chardonnay |
10 to 12 |
50 to 54 |
How to Keep Your Wine Prime—The Glass vs. Steel Debate
Cooling sleeves and ice are both options to keep your white wine chill. But, instead of what goes around or inside your wine glass to keep your drink cool, think about the glass itself—we don’t actually need to use glass at all. (Cue all purpose stainless steel drinkware.)
Glass
First, glass doesn’t work well insulating drinks. It’s not just your body temperature that matters here. The material picks up the external temperature of the room and instantly transfers it to your beverage of choice. Put your glass away for a few minutes and you will soon find your drink at room temperature.
Another issue with using multipurpose drinkware, especially for wine, is that it allows for the passage of sunlight. When you’re at an outdoor party and your wine is exposed to sunlight, you wind up with wine full of flavors on the fritz. Stay inside, and you can still have the same result, as even the light in your fridge can affect your wine when it’s in a transparent glassware.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel, however, is much cooler. Stemless partyware and classic barware can be made out of materials other than glass itself. Unlike glass, everyday stainless steel drinkware can hold the temperature of your drink for much longer, keeping all flavors intact.
Stainless steel works well for stemless barware, as it provides proper insulation. The vacuum within the layers of the walls and the materials of stainless steel partyware ensures external heat won’t penetrate your drink as it would with glass. With stainless steel glasses that are thinner, like Snowfox stainless steel stemless glasses with walls only 0.4mm, the walls pick up the chilled temperature of your wine instantly.
Lastly, shatterproof stainless steel barware is built to withstand all your most fun days and nights. Glasses break when dropped. Drop unbreakable insulated stainless steel barware like Snowfox classic drinkware sets, and you’re still good to go.
Down to the Last Drop…
You don’t have to be a wine expert to know that drinking that glass of your favorite white wine at the wrong temperature can ruin the flavors and the overall experience. So, next time you bust out a bottle, make sure to take note of the type of wine and what temperature it should be kept at. Then, properly store it. Finally, pour yourself a glass in classic drinkware made of stainless steel and enjoy your wine down to the last drop.