Beat the Heat! Keep Your Wine Cool!

The best way to get wine cold and keep it cold is with a wine cooler or refrigerator. However, neither of these devices travels particularly well. Sometimes you need to keep a bottle of wine cold for a party, and sometimes you need to keep a glass of wine cold at a picnic. In this post, we'll look at some of the best ways to keep wine cold in the field. Otherwise, warm white wine can taste off from what you are expecting, and wine that is too cold will taste and smell flat. Check your bottle occasionally to make sure that the temperature is not too extreme.

It’s easier to keep wine cool than it is to make it cool. If you have the opportunity, start with a chilled bottle. A couple of hours in the fridge or 15-30 minutes in the freezer should give your bottle a nice chill. The most obvious way to keep a bottle of wine cold in the heat is in a cooler. Coolers are fine but oftentimes they are unwieldy. If you favor portability, consider a small, insulated tote or sleeve. An ice bucket is a great option for parties. Be sure to use a mix of ice and water. Using only ice will not chill the bottle evenly and it will make it more difficult to return the bottle to the bucket.

Once the wine is out of the bottle and in your glass, it becomes harder to keep cold. Holding your glass by the stem and not the bowl will prevent body heat transfer, but that alone is frequently not enough. However, there are some options to help you keep your wine cold while enjoying it at your own pace. Wine drops are accessories that are frozen and then placed in a glass of wine. They can chill a warm glass in minutes. If your wine is already cold and you want to keep it cold, then soapstone cubes are a good bet. More commonly known as whiskey stones, soapstone cubes are perfectly suitable for wine. They won't react to it in any way and they can keep drinks cold for hours. If you have a powerful freezer and an extra bottle of the same vintage, you can make ice cubes out of wine. If your freezer is not cold enough to freeze wine, you can freeze grapes instead. Frozen grapes are a unique and delicious way to keep a glass of wine cold.

Don't let the summer heat ruin your wine! Try out these tips and tricks and let us know how you like to keep wine cold!