Eric Asimov loves red wines in summer. So do I. Please note his intelligent advice about serving them in all seasons:
Even the best red wines need to be a touch cool to flourish — 65
degrees maximum, not 75. If only more restaurants understood that ice
buckets are better suited for cooling off reds than over-chilling
whites. Yes, an especially hot place is reserved for those who serve
their reds too warm and their whites too cold.
He's touching on one of my pet peeves, the serving of red wine at a "room temperature" that makes everything taste pretty awful and unbalanced.
For his pleasing summer recommendations for chillable reds, follow this link.
last night, LL made roasted some chicken thighs with small potatoes, shallots, olives and tomatoes, and I pulled a bottle of Picket Fence Pinot Noir 2006, Russian River Valley, from the rack. Serve it at toom temp? Ha! I put it in the fridge for 45 minutes to impart a hint of chill and take the edge off. That made it perfect for what used to be "room temperature" or "cellar temperature" in the olden days. It's a terrific pinot, btw.
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | July 02, 2008 at 10:46 AM
I loved that he talked about this. I have certain wines at the shop that I definitely would and have chilled down. And not just gamay. So this past Saturday I did a chilled red wine tasting in response to our boy's post. Chilled Corvina anyone?
EvWg
Posted by: East Village Wine Geek | July 07, 2008 at 08:53 AM