May I add my french point of view?
It's abvious, but in the US, drinks are always served much colder than in Europe. All americans I know, always ask for ice. More ice.... And some put it in the wine - Never do this, please
Obviously, you knew about that one. Therfore, I can not help with this fridge discussion, I have an electric, small wine cellar. It just comes out at the right temperature. You can feel the bottle and say: OK, there we go. I admire that all of your wines are actually
decanté.. You must drink really great wines then!
When it comes to
red wine, the serving temperature should be around 16-18°C or
60.8 °F to 64.4 °F Some years ago, this corresponded to the
ambient temperature , today, ambient temperature is about 20-21°C or 68.0 °F up to 69.8 °F. But do not serve red wine at this temperature! It would loose all its vivacity and the alcohol would be too much in the foreground as it would leave the wine to early. BUt if you do this, some of you do, well if you like it in the US, never mind our french point of view
I think, when it's too cold, you taste the tannin and the accidtiy and this is just the worst
Exception, of course:
le Beaujolais: 14-15°C or
57.2 °F to 59.0 °F
White wine
Great white wines: 14-16°C or
57.2 °F -60.8 °F
Small white wines: colder much colder 10-13°C
50.0 °F up to 55.4 °F
And my all time favorite, Champage about 7°C or
44.6 °F
But the most striking point is not the temperature but how to mesure the temperature - at the outside of the bottle? There are these special thermometers. But they do not work exactly all the time. The thermometer to put in the bottle is tricky. I use it. Well and then again, if you have already opened the bottle and it does not have the right temperature? Just use the gaz to close it again. All other methods aren't working all the time. Close the bottle and put it in the fridge.
No,no,no...
http://www.wineracksplansandmore.com/prrewiprgasb.html
And what about tranportation? I always have the problem to get it over to Berlin from France and this destroyed a lot of great bottles. I still do not know to proceed. Has anyone a good answer for this one?
There is just nothing to do about it with the airplane, I think
And than the top thing: Learning
how to hold the glass
This changes everything about the temperature. I' ve seen people in ***Michelin Star Restaurants in New York who became the mock of the waiters because they did not know hot to hold a glass. But that is a different subject and can not be described.
Ok, call me a snob, it's offical.