PRIVATE RESERVE™WINE CELLAR
ITEM NUMBER CWC-1200
 

Properly chilled white and sparkling wine - yes.  But chilled red wine?  Oh dear, some of you may think I've gone off the deep end! 

I would venture a guess that way too many red wine fans are not enjoying red wines at their optimal temperature and thereby not enjoying all of the complex flavors of a blend or even the distinct flavors of a varietal red wine. In the USA, we tend to drink white wines too cold and  red wines too warm.

This revelation came to me while living in Hawai'i for many years.  Because of the wonderful and cooling trade winds that sweep across the island of O'ahu where we lived in Honolulu, we never required air conditioning.  Of course there were those days when Mother Nature saw fit to close down the trade winds - a weather condition locally named "Kona" - too long an explanation to write here but if you're interested check out this link

So, my point being that the old adage of serving red wines at "room temperature" which I found out is really a reference to "cellar temperature" just didn't work in Honolulu as we didn't have a "cellar" and where our average room temperatures were in the high 70sF low 80sF.

Back to drinking chilled red wines! We started chilling our red wines by putting them in the refrigerator about 30 - 60 minutes before serving.  We had a vague idea that more robust red wines should be served at about 63°F or 64°F - and we used a long probe wine thermometer, specifically for taking the temperature of wines in the bottle. The difference in taste was amazing.  We did some research to find out what optimal temperatures were recommended for particular red wines:

Here are a few temperature (°F) recommendations for red wines that we love to drink!

 

Wine	Temperature
Bordeaux	63
Burgundy	61
Cabernet	63
Cabernet Sauvignon	64
Chianti	57
Malbec	63
Merlot	63
Pinot Noir	59
Rioja	54
Rosé	45
Sangiovese	59
Shiraz	64
Red Zinfandel	59

I don't know what took me so long to buy a wine cellar of my own!  I did some research and found the Cuisinart PRIVATE RESERVE™WINE CELLAR
ITEM NUMBER CWC-1200 to be just the right size (holds 12 bottles) and fit perfectly in my dining area. It can also be placed on a countertop in the kitchen if you have more space than my kitchen allows

The wine cellar is programmed with eight pre-set temperatures to accommodate any variety of wine and when you've selected the preset number the temperature will appear on the LED display in °F or °C whichever you select.

Cuisinart PRIVATE RESERVE™WINE CELLAR
ITEM NUMBER CWC-1200  is available nationwide at major department stores, specialty kitchenware stores and of course, online at various sites including Cuisinart.