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Wine Storage Temperature Guide
Important!
Wine is a perishable beverage and storage conditions can impact greatly on the overall taste, quality and aroma. To achieve the best possible taste wine needs to be stored and served at the right temperature.
Stored at the wrong temperature, or extremes of temperature, will damage the quality of the wine. Stored at too high a temperature ages wine prematurely. Stored at too cold a temperature delays maturation and can
result in deposits in the wine. The old adage ‘serve reds at room temperature and refrigerate whites’ doesn’t hold true in reality. If you serve a wine too cool, the flavor will be disguised and if you serve wine too hot
alcohol becomes the dominant taste.
Also important to the overall quality of the wine is fluctuations in temperatures. Wine needs to be kept at relatively constant temperatures.
Serving a wine at the right temperature is a hard task as you have to take into account several elements like: the presence of tannins, the structure of the wine, its age, and the style of the wine. Left over wine in a
bottle will also last longer when kept at the correct temperature.
The below table gives an indication of suitable serving temperatures for the main varieties available (short term, up to 1 week and long term storage). Alter to suit your taste.
(Short term) Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec
(Short term) Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec
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