VINE LINES: Serve red wine at cellar, not room, temperature

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/07/2019 (2517 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Well, everybody has their own taste.”

Those were the words spoken to me by a very competent and attentive waiter at one of our local dining establishments some weeks ago. And while I’m a huge proponent of people drinking what they like however they like it, that was kind of the last straw for me.

I admit I was a bit grouchy — I was sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, but I was really sick and tired of somebody telling me something different than I know to be the truth.

Let me explain.

The server brought the bottle my dinner companions and I had requested, and I tried the wine — my favourite J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon from California (elegant, smooth and delicious, packed with plum, blueberry, cherry and vanilla notes — $26.99 at Liquor Marts). I smiled and said it was lovely, but it was too warm. That’s when he made the comment above.

I was polite — I smiled and tried to explain that while people say red wine is to be served at room temperature, what that really meant when the term was coined was cellar temperature, which should be between approximately 16 and 18 degrees Celsius.

And he said, “Well, when most people drink red wine, they like it warm.”

Then, while I still remained polite and smiling, underneath that serene veneer, I was seething. Because in restaurants, it’s not like red wine drinkers have a choice! White wines are usually chilled before they’re brought to the table, as they should be, but red often sits out in a non-temperature-controlled environment. And I’m betting our red that night was at least 25 C.

I told him what I did for part of my living — writing this column — and he more-than-agreeably brought us a cooler for the wine with ice and water, as I’d requested. He was very accommodating the whole evening, bringing fresh glasses for subsequent bottles, and his service was excellent.

But this whole episode brought to the fore — again — a pet peeve of mine: service persons treating their customers as if they know nothing about wine. Certainly some people would welcome wine guidance from those who are looking after them, and that’s great. But presuming that you, as the server, know more than whomever you’re waiting on does a great disservice to some of your patrons.

I remember some years ago Beppi Crisoriol, wine and spirits writer for The Globe and Mail, saying essentially the same thing in his column. He was sick and tired — there’s that phrase again — of being treated like he knew nothing by a server who was likely only trying to do his or her best. But after multiple encounters like this, he said, it just gets insulting. And I took a great deal of delight in the fact that the esteemed Mr. Crisoriol felt the same way I did. (In another column, he also freely admitted to adding an ice cube to a glass of wine if it wasn’t chilled properly, another thing I do when circumstances demand.)

I know five people I can name who regularly add ice cubes to their wine — and yes, it does water it down a bit, but they find wine unpalatable if it’s not cool enough. I keep my reds in the fridge, and while I don’t advocate that for everybody, it works for me. I adore it when a glass of wine warms up slowly — it’s like I get to taste several different wines as the layers reveal themselves. And I drink my whites too cold — I know that — but the same thing applies: as the wine warms, the taste evolves and changes and I just love that.

Anyway, minor apologies for this rant. But not really. Yes, you should drink whatever you like however you like it. But restaurants and lounges need to do a better job of keeping their reds at cellar temperature, and not just assume that because it’s stored that way, “some like it hot.” Because I think for most people, that’s incorrect, it’s unfair, and to some of us, it’s offensive.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, it’s time for a glass of wine. Chilled, of course. Hmmmm. Red? Or white …?