cooking @ home

I personally enjoy white wines over reds. Some say I must not have a cultured palette therefore. I tell them take a long walk off a short pier. I like what I like. You like what you like. Neither of us is wrong. It’s called a preference. Take your snobbery elsewhere and stuff a cork in it.

And then to really tweek the wine snobs — that’s not why I do it, again, it’s my preference — when I do have red wine, I like mine chilled. No doubt that statement is sending many a sommelier into a hissy fit on the light side, and for others a full-fledged turrets syndrome attack. C’est la vie.

That Room Temperature Statement

This is my personal gripe: “Red wines should be at room temperature.” Because this has been apparently handed down for hundreds of years, the wine snoots take it as “the credo”. Thing is, they may not be so much wrong. It’s just the snoots seem incapable of grasping a common sense truth: that when someone 400 years ago uttered that, they did so without the having envisioned central heating.

My point: Whose room temperature? What room temperature?

Seems everyone has heard of the red wine at room temperature statement, but it’s exact origins and timeline can’t be pinned down. For me, I’ve always thought this notion came from Europe and somewhere around or after the Renaissance. I’m not sure if this is true, but thinking of the height of wine making in Western culture, one things of kings, castles, friars and abbeys. It seems logical.

As for the present, I’d say the average modern household, at least in America is probably 68-72°F. In a restaurant, it often tends to be a bit warmer than I would like, usually 76-78°F. Not sure why, though I can guess everything from trying to pack in patrons, poor ventilation and heat just escaping from busy kitchens is as good an answer as any. All I know is restaurateurs tend to take the “room temperature rule” literally and without compensating for history. For one last time, let me shout it from the rooftops — and the wine cellars — no one ever meant for red wines to be served at 75-plus degrees!

Interestingly enough when I started this article and I began searching around the web to add some hard facts to bolster my case, I came across a lot of opinions, and a few interesting facts. To my delight it seems where my strong feelings on this matter were once rebellious and contained among a very small piece of society; today there’s a whole lot more people similar feelings on the subject.

From 2basnob.com: “Most people know to drink red wine at room temperature, but that is not really true. Unless of course, you keep the temperature in your house similar to that of an old English castle. Most reds taste best between 62°F to 65°F (16°C to 18°C).” Regarding drinking temperature, I think this guy is pretty close.

From CellarNotes: “Cellar temperature is usually about 55 degrees which is perfect for storing wine”. In terms of cellar temperature, this is the one most often given. Yet (as you will see in a minute with the “lager proof”) it’s still a higher temperature than a medieval cellar.

What’s the problem you ask? How to get a more accurate reading of what the temperature of a medieval castle’s cellar or a castle’s “great hall” where the wine and food was served. And where and when? Fall in a castle in London? Winter in a monastery in Vienna? Spring in a cloister in Budapest? And shall we choose 1812 or 1492 or when exactly? Too many variables. Some generalities (as above) could be made, but still, nothing scientific or more specific.

As to dating, I came across this in my searches this from a Barnes and Noble bookeditor: “That well-worn phrase was developed over 300 years ago in England when people gathered around the fireplace for warmth, but the rest of the room was cool.” So, pre-1700 in other words. I have no problems agreeing with that. The time a bit more pegged down; that major issue of temperature remained.

Lager Brewing Pinpoints Temperature

Yes, it was beer of all things that for me, gave me conclusive evidence. Specifically, the secret of red wine “room” temperature comes from the history of lager. What does making beer have to do with making wine? They were kept in the same places. It was on one of those Discover Channel type channels and a program on the History of Beer I saw a few years back, that I finally got my scientific answer. And that is that lager only ferments at a specific temperature range.

From Wikipedia: “Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin. They are the most commonly consumed beers in the world. The name comes from the German lagern (”to store”). Lagers originated from being fermented in the cellars of Eastern European castles and monasteries which became quite cold. Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast (e.g., Saccharomyces pastorianus), and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7-12°C (45–55°F) (the “fermentation phase”), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0–4°C (32–40°F) (the “lagering phase”). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a “crisper” tasting beer.”

Aha! No guesses of room temperature or cellar temperature. A specific chemical reaction that is only achieved as a certain temperature range. Definite proof if not to the temperature of “the castle’s great hall”, then for certain on the cellars. 45-55°F was the temperature of the cellars in Europe. The same ones where they kept their wine — including red wine.

Let’s Bring This Up to Date

A modern refrigerator tends to be between 35-38°F. And the range of a living room to a restaurant’s “room temperature” is 70-76°F. Of these two places and temperatures, which is closest to the room temperature of a European wine cellar of 400 years ago? The fridge!

Now going around the Net, those who believe in the colder red wine say having it permanently in the fridge is too cold for a variety reasons. That too cold is nearly as bad as too warm. So the conventional wisdom is place your bottle of red wine in the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving.

To be candid, I’ve been keeping my reds in the refridgerator with my whites for days or a week on end. They say that’s too much. I’ll keep an open mind for one reason. I’ve never tried in “between”. My rallying against the too hot, was to go to fridge, which may have been an extreme a bit too much the other way. So, I’ll give it a try at the somewhere between temp before making an opinion. (And of course I will let you know the results).

Now, all of this having been said, something you need to know. It’s up to you. If you like red wine cold, do it. Heck, if you really do like red wine warm, go ahead and do that too. Anyhow the next time some snoot says “you are mistaken, this must be at room temperature” you can educate him on the science and history of distillation, fermentation and historic temperature variances.

Ok, so if the fridge takes care of the at-home thing … What to do at restaurants then? Get into a brawl? Submit to hot lousy wine?

That B&N editor I mentioned above suggests to simple tell the waiter to place the bottle in an ice bucket for 10-15 minutes and then come back and serve it. I then found very similar recommendations elsewhere — including from some restaurant critics. The revolt begins!

Who knows? At this rate, maybe restaurants will actually start to get a clue and start serving reds chilled without having to be lectured. Meanwhile, educate and get your way. Next time you want a chilled red and the waiter starts his nasally intonation about “room temperature” you tell him to stick it … in the ice bucket. And ignore the upturned noses and muffled throat-clearings when they do so. The customer is always right. And you and I are the customer. Cin cin!

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