Have you ever experienced one of these situations?
That White Wine, Rosé or Sparkling that should always be chilled for every occasion, turns out to be stored in your pantry or cellar, not fresh at all, at environment temperature. As a guest you go to a friend’s dinner party, you bring the wine without being chill. You have guests at home, but with the enthusiasm of the party, you run out of cool wine. You come home at the end of the day and all you desire is that cool refreshing glass of wine after a stressful day at work.
The solution is simple. If you want to learn how to cool wine in some record time, here is what you will need.
Expert Wine Tip #1
- Ice bucket
- Ice
- Salt
Fill the bucket with abundant ice (about three quarters), cold water until the ice gets covered and two handfuls of salt. There will be an automatic and cooling reaction between these three ingredients. We insert the bottle deeply in the ice bucket as possible, that is, the more contact the bottle has with the ice, more homogenous will be the cooling. If it not possible to insert the whole bottle in the bucket, before serving, to avoid part of the bottle being cooled down and the other don’t, turn the bottle gently upside down for two or three times to mix the wine.
Wait 15 minutes, open the bottle, serve and enjoy!
Expert Wine Tip #2
- Kitchen paper towels/napkins
- Space in your freezer
Wrap the bottle in two sheets of paper towels or napkins, wet it with tap water and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. The paper will get water bubbles that by freezing rapidly will cool down the wine’s temperature in a record time. After that time, open the bottle without getting the paper out, that will serve as a sleeve that will keep the wine fresh from the first to the last sip.
Expert Wine Tip # 3
Buy a bunch of grapes, wash them well one by one and keep them in a bag in the freezer. When the wine is not so fresh, use the grapes that you have previously frozen as ice cubes, putting 3 or 4 in the glass and just relax.
Stay tuned for my posts as I will share with you the best insider tips about wine, the Portuguese varietals and the Portuguese award-winning wines. And if you have any question about wine, don’t hesitate to ask.
Written by: João Guedes, Wine Tourism in Portugal