Table For 2

Table For 2: Wine Temp Counts For Taste

CHICAGO (CBS) ― When you want to relax with a glass of wine, you pick the color, type and vintage. But how much thought do you five to the temperature?

CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports it's more complicated than you think as CBS 2's "Table For 2" moves to Saturday nights.

When it comes to poring over wine, Brian Duncan's cup runneth over. As the owner of restaurant and wine emporium Bin 36 --- he has some seasonal advice on wine temperatures for those of us anxious to toast in summer's toasty conditions.

"A red wine drinks better at a little cooler temperature," Duncan said.

It's information dispelling the old adage that red wine is best served at room temperature.

"Well that's fine if you don't live in Zimbabwe, room temperature varies depending on where you are and the heat in someone's home," Duncan said.

Warmer temperatures serve to emphasize a red's alcohol content, making it more intense --- Duncan suggests cooling off an unopen bottle of red for 10 minutes in the refrigerator just before serving.

"A lot of people think they don't like red wines or that they are harsh, but what they've done is its at room temperature and its causing the sensation of burning in the throat," Duncan said.

Icy cold temperatures are perfect for most sparkling wines and younger champagnes --- but not necessarily all white wines.

"One of the mistakes a lot of people do is they try to get wine too cold," Duncan said.

Lighter bodied whites like pinot griggio hold up well to a strong chill, but not more complex whites like chardonnay.

"You don't want them to be icy cold because it shuts down the flavor -- it's almost like drinking ice water because it's ice cold and you don't taste any of the wonderful nuances," Duncan said.

Even how you hold your glass can impact a wines taste and temperature --- so remember to grasp the glass's stem.

"I think anytime you introduce your hot little hands around the bowl of the glass you are increasing the temperature of the wine and from aesthetics you are also adding fingerprints, and we don't want that," Duncan said.

A good temperature for a red wine is around 60 degrees, for a chardonnay – 50 to 55 degrees.

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