hahahahaha wait who doesn't want Lafite ice cubes?

Yes!!!! Correcto !!!! ^

If you have a wine cooler... you need to allocate some shelf space to fit your decanter... actually the duck style decanters are the best since they will usually fit in half a shelf space, provided you place it on one of the racks that is somewhat taller than average.... the larger magnum decanters, while very pretty are a pain in the rear for this because most of the time they will require you to have a half empty cooler to be able to do this.

For those that have a proper cellar... its fine to just pour & decant and leave the carrafe in the cellar until you are ready to go. Actually, as long as you are good with your timing, your normal housefold refrigetaror also works, but make sure to cover the decanter mouth with plastic wrap so that the odors of the refrigerator dont come into play.

I hope someone is taking honest spoof juice temp. measurements :D

if you´re serving spoof juice.... forget the temperature. Just remember the ice-cubes !!!!! :D

My wine cooler isn't big enough to fit even a duck style decanter, plus I hate those kinds anyways. My storage facility is a good 10 miles away so that kind of negates using it, as tempting as it is :p
Next time I'll chill the decanter beforehand, as well as the wine, and then use the refrigerator method and see how that turns out.

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)

If you will use the refrigerator then there's no need to pre chill...

Sure there is, if I just let the decanter sit out, in this heat the wine temperature will rise beyond the desired level...

...? I thought you meant pre chill before you put into the fridge.... if the last stop is the domestic fridge, that operates at levels close to 3-4 degrees Celcius so that should be enough cold to bring it down quickly... actually, its easy to over chill when you use the standard refrigerator so time management is key... :-: @:-)

i know it sounds dorky, but i was gonna use an egg timer to make sure things go well..

French point of view
 

May I add my french point of view? :D

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 :D :td::td:

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 :D
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. :p 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. :p

FWIW I hate seeing people who don't know how to hold a glass.

I am one American who hates Ice, there are a small few who do not and are proud of it...but that's for another topic.

As for ice in the wine...I've seen it here, and I've also seen it in Europe. ;)

I don't think there is a right or a wrong answer. I think it totally depends on the wine, the conditions, etc.

We have a chardonnay we love. It's wonderful at room temp, indeed at the winery it is not chilled, they serve it at room temp.

If however we are sitting outside on a hot summer day, it's spectacular iced and served cold. It would still be spectacular served warmish, but that little extra bit of refreshment makes it wonderful. Many rose's are thet same way, they can be served at a variety of temperatures depending on what their intent is.

But I will agree a "cheap" (for lack of a better word, I don't believe price and taste go hand in hand all the time) chardonnay is best served iced cold, or boiling hot, as in reduced to a sauce for seafood or something..

Reds I tend to like at room temperature, no matter what the temperature of the room is. If it's summer and the room is 10 degrees warmer, I prefer the wine to be too. I don't like a big red to be too cool in comparison to the room temperature, I think that really changes the volitiles and holds back them being released when you swirl it around and sniff it.

all my wine is stored at 55 degrees in my cellar - when i open a bottle whether it's red or white, it sits out on my counter (either in bottle or decanter) and I taste as the wine warms. I personally enjoy reds and whites the most when they are slightly below room temp (low 60s i guess).

I do however prefer white rhone (marsanne, rousanne, viognier) to be room temperature - i love the classic honey and oil components that explode out of the glass as the wine achieves this temperature. anything cooler masks those delicous aromas.