Yes, you should be chilling your red wine

For most of us, life gets better when the weather warms up. For rusted-on red-wine fans, though, things don’t always seem so rosy in spring and summer.

See, when the days get long and the Aussie sun revs its engines, most of us tend to stash away those red wines and turn to something more fridge-friendly – a white wine, a rosé or even (whisper it, wine lovers) a beer. But there’s a beautiful compromise that lets red wine shine even when the mercury rises: chilled reds.

Take it from us – chilled red wine is bloody delicious. It might even make red-wine drinkers look forward to hot weather, but we’re big fans of cooling down our reds year-round, too. To master the art, you just need to know which red wines work best when chilled and how to nail the temperature.

Although the chilled red wine trend is big news right now, it’s not some recent discovery. In warmer winemaking climates of old – like Spain, Portugal and the hotter parts of Italy and France – chilled red wine has been a summer sensation for years. 

Whether you’re drinking a glass in Provence or Perth, the best red wines for chilling tend to have some stylistic similarities that make them receptive to the cold. Usually, these wines are lighter-bodied, not super high in alcohol (under 13% is common), low in tannin and ideally packed with plenty of fruity flavours and acidity. Wines in this style tend to become crisp, clean and refreshing when chilled, while full-bodied wines with high alcohol and strong tannin usually become bitter and unpleasantly lacking in flavour and aroma. 

The lists below aren’t exhaustive or foolproof (wine varieties can vary in style depending on where they come from and how they’re made) but they should help you find a wine to pop in the chiller.

Red wines ideal for chilling:

• Beaujolais/gamay
• pinot noir
• grenache
• pinot meunier
• dolcetto
• cabernet franc
• nero d’Avola
• petit verdot
• sangiovese

Red wines best at room temperature:

• shiraz (although lighter styles – particularly those labelled ‘syrah’ – can definitely work)
• cabernet sauvignon
• durif
• merlot

So, you’ve found the perfect bottle of red wine to drink chilled. Now what? The first thing to know is there’s a difference between ‘chilled’ and ‘cold’. Ideally, you want your red to be cool, but not fridge-cold. Some guides will tell you to shoot for around 10 to 12 degrees but, unless you’ve got a wine fridge or an instant-read thermometer, that’s not going to mean much. 

Instead, you can cool your red to the right temperature by putting it on ice for 20 minutes (Champagne buckets are perfect for this) or by giving it an hour in the fridge. Even half an hour in the fridge will do enough to drop the temperature and take the edge off, heightening some of those bright, juicy fruit flavours.

If you’re anything like us, daydreams of chilled reds might include floral tablecloths on outdoor dining sets, grassy lawns and sizzling barbecues. As luck would have it, these al-fresco summer settings naturally tend to feature the sorts of dishes that go extremely well with these bright and light chilled reds.

Barbecued red meats like marinated lamb backstraps and thinly-sliced cuts of steak, plus charred chicken thighs, pork chops and grilled seafood like prawns and scallops will work very well with chilled reds. The same goes for classic vegetarian dishes like grilled haloumi, marinated eggplant or zucchini, and sides like herby potato salad. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it, honestly.

Beyond the barbecue, chilled reds are also great with spicy noodle dishes, charcuterie and cheese boards (with assorted antipasti, naturally), and light pasta dishes.