Cool, Cool Wines

Villa Vinea Amarone Della Valpolicella( Cave & Cellar) 

Guigal Cotes-du Rhone ( Mui Hua Sdn Bhd, Cold Storage)

Morande Reserva Pinot Noir ( Cave & Cellar)
Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel (Wine Cellar, Jln Bangkung Bangsar)

Lionel: Everyone knows that you chill white wine. But red? I know , I know the idea seems a bit off. But belief you me,  most red wines are served far too warm in Asia and some are ideal candidates for the refrigerator, and best of all, these can be good complements to all kinds of slightly spicier and or light food. Yes, some people might tell you that red wine cannot be chilled and should be drunk at room temperature no matter what. These people who give you these rules, they never tell you what room temperature is nor do they realize that room temperature is ever changing, depending on whether the room is in hot tropical Malaysia in July or in a stone cellar in Scotland in November, right? Of course they do not.

But even stone cellar temperature is sometimes not cold enough. Sometimes we want right-out-of-the-refrigerator cold, and yes, my friends, we can enjoy a red wine like that and I did just to prove my point.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to overdo it. Unlike a lambrusco, which you can drink straight out of the fridge, you want to take most reds out and let it sit for half an hour or, if you’re starting from the beginning, just put it in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes before drinking. If chilled but not ice cold, you’ve got yourself one refreshing drink, yum, yum.

All wines taste best when served reasonably cool (not ice cold). The ideal for a fine red wine is 18 to 25 degrees. A few red wines, however, are best at an even cooler temperature—around 14 degrees; they're the ones to seek when hot weather hits. 

The best red wines for chilling are usually relatively straightforward, with a concentrated fruitiness and low levels of oak, tannin and alcohol. Beaujolais is pretty much the ultimate example of this style, although there are plenty of others, such as young and lighter Zinfandels and Pinot Noirs. And if you have tried any others that work, do drop us a line and we would gladly put them to the test!!!