How Quickly Does a Wine Warm Up?
A wine's flavor depends greatly on its temperature. If you drink a wine ice cold, you get no aroma, no flavor. It just tastes like cold water. If you drink a wine steaming hot, all of the alcohol vapors are released, and the wine tastes very alcoholy. It's somewhere in the middle that the true nuances of a wine's flavor can be enjoyed.
Looking at the temperature chart, a wine should never be served as cold as fridge temperature - and never as warm as room temperature (unless you keep your house at 62F). Therefore many people keep their wine in the fridge and then let it warm up to drink it - that seems infinitely preferable to keeping the wine at room temperature and then trying to quick-freeze it in the freezer before drinking!
So how long does it take a wine to warm up from fridge temperature to drinkable temperature? I love doing experiments, and this was an easy one! You simply take a bottle of wine, a stick-on thermometer, and a clock. I've done many runs on many different days. There are slight variations if your home is a bit warmer or colder, but this is the average change.
Time (H:MM) | Temp (F) | Wine Target |
| 0:00 | fridge | |
| 0:10 | 46 | Chablis / Riesling |
| 0:20 | 46 | |
| 0:30 | 54 | Sauvignon Blanc |
| 0:40 | 54 | |
| 0:50 | 56 | Chardonnay |
| 1:00 | 58 | Zinfandel / Chianti |
| 1:10 | 58 | |
| 1:20 | 58 | |
| 1:30 | 58 | |
| 1:40 | 58 | |
| 1:50 | 62 | Pinot Noir |
| 2:00 | 62 | |
| 2:10 | 62 | |
| 2:20 | 62 | |
| 2:30 | 64 | Cabernet |
| 2:40 | 66 | |
| 2:50 | 66 |
This means that even white wines should be taken out for a little while before serving - and you need to plan ahead with your reds!
Wine Serving Temperature Guidelines
Wine Survival Experiment with Opened Bottles of Wine
How Do You Keep a Wine at the Right Temperature?
All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.