How to chill wine fast: the ultimate trick

The tastiest trick

One of the most original and least harmful ways to cool wine is with frozen grapes. Yes, yes, as you read it. You just have to be careful to keep a bag or a tupper with frozen grapes in the freezer. The effect is almost immediate. By adding a couple or three to the glass, you chill the wine without diluting the liquid. And once the grapes are thawed, you have a sweet bite.

The most classic trick: Ice water

If you have not been careful to freeze some grapes and you want to chill the wine as soon as possible, you have this alternative. Fill a container with ice and water (it cools faster than using ice alone) and insert the bottles. You need between 12 and 15 minutes for the white or sparkling wine to reach the ideal temperature and about 5 minutes to have a red wine ready.

Add salt

This other trick is to add a tablespoon of salt to the ice water mixture and stir it. The combination of salt and water produces a thermal reaction that causes the salt, once dissolved, to absorb the heat from the wine bottle, and thus the cold from the ice passes much more quickly into the liquid.

What if you don't have ice?

Another method to cool the wine in a pleat is to wrap the bottle in paper (kitchen, newspaper or whatever you have on hand), wet it and put it in the freezer. Although (as you will see later) putting a bottle in the freezer is not recommended, in some emergency cases, it works. The water in the paper (you can also use a kitchen towel) freezes quickly and cools the bottle in about 10 minutes.

Although the most correct method is …

However, if you have time, the best option is to put the wine in the fridge door and let it cool down little by little. For the whites and sparkling wines (which are the ones that are taken colder), you will need about 60 minutes, and for the reds, about 30.

And what you should never do …

One of the most common mistakes when you want to chill a wine in a hurry (whether it is sparkling or not) is to put it in the freezer. NO! Forget the freezer. Sudden changes in temperature alter the taste and properties of the wine. Ideally, it will gradually acquire temperature. And don't even think about putting ice in the glass because you will water it down.

Not too cold nor too hot

Neither too cold nor too hot

Although we have given you all these tricks to cool the wine, keep in mind that if you drink it very cold (2 to 4 ºC), you can hardly perceive its aromas and the acidic flavors are accentuated. And if you drink it very hot (above 20 ºC), the alcohols and sweet flavors are very noticeable.

Store it properly

It is extremely important that the wines are stored in a suitable place. As a general rule, it has to be a dark space, that does not suffer sudden changes in temperature and, if they have a cork, the bottles have to be placed horizontally. It is useless if you know these tricks to chill the wine if later, when you taste it, it is chopped because it has not been stored well.

Facts you need to know …

A glass of red wine gives you about 178 calories; the pink one, about 174; white, around 185; and you will need about 30 minutes walking to burn them. If you want to know more, discover the "hidden" calories in alcoholic beverages.

As you have seen, what you should never do to chill wine is to put it in the freezer or add ice to the glass. And the allowed tricks are to put it on the refrigerator door, cool it with frozen grapes, or place it in an ice bucket with water, ice and salt. But there is still more …

What is the ideal temperature for each wine

In order to enjoy 100% of all its qualities and properties, each type of wine must be consumed at a certain temperature. According to the OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) , these are those that correspond to the different wines that are usually consumed.

Via OCU

And how to preserve wine correctly …

According to experts, the ideal is to store the wine in a dark place that does not suffer from thermal fluctuations. That is to say, do not change the temperature too much (and if it is between 12 and 16ºC).

In other words, the kitchen is not the best place to store wine, since it is usually a room in the house where there are many variations in temperature (when you cook, for example), and it is flooded with light.

But of course, who has a cellar or basement without air conditioning? We do not. What can we do then? One option is to use a wine cooler (those specific wine coolers that allow you to store your bottles at the temperature you choose). And the other opting for the darkest and coolest place in the house (prohibited next to the heating, the air conditioner, or in a closet on the balcony …).

Do not forget to place the bottles well. Except in the case of sparkling wines (such as cava), it is recommended to put the wine bottles lying down so that the cork is always moist and does not dry out. Thus it does not undergo volume change and keeps the bottle hermetically closed.