Wine
How to Serve and Chill Your Spring & Summer Wines
May 15, 2025
Enjoying a chilled glass of wine outdoors during warmer weather months is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and ensuring your bottles are served at the proper temperature is key to allowing them to show their best—and our expert team has a handful of tips and tricks on how to do so in the most efficient ways possible. Curious to learn more? Discover how our sommeliers optimally chill their bottles prior to popping their corks—as well as keep them refreshingly cold once opened—all season long.
Timing is Key
Hugo Arias, Sommelier at Sommsation, notes that when it comes to chilling whites and rosés, timing is everything. “If you can put the bottles in the fridge with enough lead time, that's perfect,” he says. Michael Meagher, Master Sommelier agrees, citing 45–55°F (7–13°C) as the ideal temperature for serving whites and rosés.
“Take them out of the fridge about 20 minutes before serving to let them warm slightly—remember, it’s easier to warm a wine that’s too cold than to cool down one that’s too warm,” he says.
Avoid Overchilling
As with most things in life, too much of a good thing—in this case, chilling—can end up being overkill. Meagher reveals that most wine drinkers are guilty of serving white wines too cold and red wines too warm, and that over-chilling whites can mute their aromas and make them taste more acidic than they actually are.
Sommelier Elyse Lovenworth echoes Meagher, citing that extreme cold mutes flavors and aromas. “Let overly cold wines warm up in the glass for 5–10 minutes to open up,” she suggests.
Don't Forget the Reds!
Lovenworth explains that when it comes to red wine, most people assume that room temperature is the right temperature. “However, room temperature is misleading; historically, ‘room temp’ meant European cellar temps (~60°F/15–16°C) — not a modern living room at 72°F/22°C,” she says, stating that as a result, most red wines are served too warm at today’s ambient room temperatures, which can make them feel flabby or overly alcoholic / tannic.
“A slight chill can soften some harshness—for some wines with noticeable alcohol or bitterness, a chill can smooth out heat and tannins, making the wine more approachable,” she says, emphasizing that the vibrant red fruit flavors found lighter-bodied reds, such as Pinot Noir and Gamay, will brighten with a chill. “Chilling red wine enhances acidity, giving the wine a crisper edge, great for hot weather,” she says, citing these wines as incredibly versatile for pairing with summer meals—thing grilled vegetables, charcuteries, and/or cold pasta salads.
Ice Buckets & Sleeves: Wine Chilling's Best Friends
Arias confirms that the best way to keep a bottle cold is a good old ice bucket, which he refers to as reliable and simple. “If you are camping or at a picnic, bringing the wine in an insulated bag or a cooler is perfect, too—no need to overthink it,” he says. Building on Arias’ point, Lovenworth suggests preparing an ice bucket with a mixture of ice, water, and a pinch of salt. “If you just put ice in the bucket it is hard to submerge and evenly chill the bottle,” she says.
Additionally, when in doubt, Lovenworth recalls the “20-minute rule,” which suggests chilling red wines for about 20 minutes before serving, as well as taking white wines out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving. “This is a general guideline to help wines reach their optimal serving temperatures for the best flavor and aroma,” she says.
Tips for Chilling Outdoors
Meagher notes that outdoor temperatures can quickly warm up wine, dulling its flavors and making it less enjoyable, especially on warmer weather days. To maintain optimal serving temperatures, he also recommends ice buckets prepared with salt water, which he notes lowers the freezing point of the water, thus chills the wine faster and keeps it cold longer.
“Insulated sleeves are also effective for keeping bottles at the desired temperature without the mess of melting ice,” he says. Similarly, Lovenworth suggests looking into insulated wine glassware. “In addition to keeping the bottle cold, you’ll also want to maintain the cool temperature after you pour yourself a glass,” she says, stating that while insulated glassware could incur a significant cost for a large gathering, that snagging in a few glasses for yourself and a couple of friends over the summer could be a worthwhile investment.
Additional Recommendations
Beyond ice buckets and insulated sleeves / glassware, Lovenworth recommends keeping bottles and wine glasses out of direct sunlight, as well as sticking to smaller pours to ensure that the wine in the glass stays chilled. However, with outdoor parties and gatherings, keeping things easy is key. “Ensuring that wine is properly chilled outdoors is all about balancing convenience and effectiveness,” says Lovenworth. “You have to know when to call it quits and just keep the wine indoors—there is only so much you can do when it is 95 degrees and you are in direct sunlight!” she exclaims.
Meagher equally emphasizes that chilling wines in the refrigerator before an outdoor event can alleviate a lot of the work. “This gives you a head start in maintaining the right temperature throughout the gathering,” he says. For a fun bonus way to chill wines outdoors, both Meagher and Lovenworth recommend the same thing: frozen grapes. “Drop in a few frozen grapes or stainless steel wine cubes to keep glasses cold without dilution,” Lovenworth says, noting that using regular ice cubes will water down the wine in the glass.
To explore Sommsation’s artisanal, expert-approved selection of wines, click here.