If you are a wine lover, then you’ve no doubt heard the saying “drink it at room temperature,” but the truth is, that advice is centuries old. Not only is this not true for all red wines, but some varietals are also actually better served with a slight chill. Most experts agree chilled red wines are a must.
According to Vine Pair, “A wine served above 66 degrees will have an impact on the overall structure of the wine such as acid, alcohol, and flavors. It will soften the structure of the wine, and the alcohol becomes significantly more noticeable.” However, if you chill the same wine down to 55 to 60 degrees, the flavors will become focused, the alcohol will not be as evident, and the structure will be tighter.”
So while you can chill it in your fridge before serving, when it starts to warm up? You can’t very well add ice to your wife because it dilutes it, and nobody wants that. Well, according to this wine life hack, the solution is simple, just add frozen grapes. Frozen grapes keep their frozen juice inside the grape, so there is very little dilution or flavor transfer taking place.
Simply put a few frozen grapes, two or three work best, into the glass and then swirl the glass around. The cooling effects are almost immediate. Of course, the added bonus is that once you finish drinking the wine and the grapes have defrosted, you are left with a little fruity nibble. Gotta love that!
Another alternative is to buy two bottles of the same wine. Use the first bottle to make ice cubes by simply pouring the wine into an ice cube tray and let freeze overnight. If you want to get really crafty, you can even use those ice cube trays that are little cute shapes and sizes.
I personally prefer the frozen grapes method but wine ice cubes are a nice alternative. Both have been tested and work like a charm. So I guess we can make this wine life hack off as fact-checked.
Did you know that the color in red wines comes from grape skins? The color comes from a plant pigment called anthocyanin, which is found in the skins of red grapes. The color becomes less intense as wine ages and may become lighter in color. Really old wines are pale, and some are even translucent in color.
Not only does anthocyanin give red wine its color, but evidence also suggests it provides a range of health benefits. Anthocyanins have antimicrobial, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-mutagenic properties, which in turn play a role in the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases such as metabolic disorders, cancer, eye diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.
National Red Wine did as celebrated each year on August 28th, so if you don’t enjoy this life hack today, you can save it for then!