So you have decided to have a small get together at the last minute and have realized that you don’t have a single bottle of chilled wine. What’s the best way to chill that bottle?

The single best method to chill a bottle of wine quickly is using an ice bucket or something that could be a substitute for an ice bucket. Using a mixture of half ice and half cold water, fill the ice bucket about two-thirds of the way and put the bottle in the bucket. Make sure you use water; ice alone will take well over an hour to chill the bottle thoroughly. Using this method it should only take 20 to 30 minutes for the bottle to be cooled. Adding a little bit of rock salt to the ice water bath will help cool a bottle quicker if necessary.

If using a refrigerator to chill a bottle of wine, it will usually need to be kept in there for at least a couple of hours to get it chilled throughout. Never use a freezer to chill a bottle of wine. I know this is something we all do, and I have been known on occasion in the past to do it, but it really is a bad idea. Constantly having to watch the bottle to make sure it doesn’t break in the freezer is not a fun thing to do, and even if the bottle doesn’t break it is still going to take longer than using the bucket of ice water.

Now that you know the best way to chill those bottles of wine, what is the best temperature to serve them at? Most red wines (I say most because you will find the occasional red wine such as this Southern Red which is best served cold) are served at 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). A little colder at 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) high quality white wines such as Sauternes and Burgundies should be served, while the majority of white wines (Chenin and Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Rieslings) should be served no lower than 45 degrees F (7 degrees C). Lower than that and the wine will lose a lot of its bouquet and flavors.