Cold new world

Wines to chill (with) this summer

by David Marglin

When the white heat of the sun starts to make my brow drip, I want to be drinking cold, thirst-quenching liquids. This might seem to eliminate wine from consideration. With only a few exceptions, the trend in wines these days is to serve them room temperature, or slightly chilled. Standard wisdom has it that cold blunts flavors, limits complexity, and is generally not, er, cool.

But wine has changed a lot in the past 30 years, and maybe the standard wisdom should change too. As you may have noticed, I am a big fan of New World wines -- the accessible Californian- and Australian-style wines that are fruit-forward, smooth, and approachable at a young age. I find that a lot of them taste good cold, regardless of their color. At room temperature, many New World wines are almost too bold, too concentrated -- some have too much fruit going on for their own good. I want some of those flavors to be restrained, and chilling can help. One of the magical experiences with wine is letting the cold juice linger in your mouth, warming and releasing new flavors.

It's no surprise that white wines taste good cold. Most whites are meant to be served chilled; many New World whites, with their tropical and citrus flavors, benefit from a really good chill. With some of those flavors held in check you may find them more palatable, more likable -- and more refreshing, for sure.

With reds, serving wine cold is a little more controversial. To traditionalists, the idea of chilling red wines may sound like pure heresy. But it's not. In America wine is often served too warm anyway; "room temperature" in Europe means about 60 degrees, not the 70-degree indoor temps that are normal here. And restaurants are not exempt from "warmatoma" -- I am often presented bottles of white that are too warm for my taste, and bottles of red that should be too warm for anyone's.

During the summer, I like to take the cold trend even further. I tend to serve reds, especially the younger and fruitier reds, with a bit of chill on them. Some time in the fridge (or, as a last resort, the freezer or ice for a minute or two) will get your average bold New World wine into a state where it's muted a bit, clipping some of that forward flavor. I find this works well with red zinfandels and syrahs, plus Rhône wines such as grenache, mourvèdre, and carignane. It also works with younger, fruitier pinot noirs. Cabernet franc and sangiovese blends can take a touch of cold. (However, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, which tend to be drier to begin with, can lose almost all their fruit if they get cold.)

Even with a fruity wine, you don't want to chill it down too much: this can damage the wine, or mute it to the point where it's no fun to drink. And in general, the older a red wine gets, the less cold it can tolerate. Personally, I'll chill zinfandel, shiraz, and Rhône varietals in the fridge for a couple of hours, but pinot noirs, Italian and Spanish reds, and cabernet francs for considerably less time. And when I do chill cabernet sauvignon and merlot, it's just for a few minutes, to bring the bottle down to about 60 degrees.

You may have your own preferences. So try this experiment. Buy two bottles of any one of this week's recommended reds, and chill one of them. Serve the other at whatever your own room temperature happens to be, and compare and contrast them.

What you will find is that loads of fruity New World wines become more focused and more precise when cold, and then their flavors expand gently as they warm. The wines will refresh you and your guests. And most wines should keep better and longer in the fridge once opened. Bear in mind that wine is juice, and most of us drink our juice cold. The following wines are what I consider to be good juice -- they are well worth trying, warmer or with the right degree of cold.

1998 Cline Syrah California ($10.99). Bright, sunny syrah -- a cracked-peppery, tomato-basil wine.
Fine with tofu (or hot) dogs or grilled swordfish.

1997 Beaulieu Vineyard Zinfandel Napa Valley ($14.99). Jammy, stewy, well saturated with true zinny flavors. Should work well with Mexican or
barbecue.

1999 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough New Zealand) ($22). Hammer on! The sémillon in the blend lends balance and depth to the normal grapefruity varietal character. Rocking now, but should age gracefully for a few years yet. Serve with shellfish, paella, pea soup, or a spicy pizza.

1997 Hess Collection Zinfandel Napa Valley ($24). Wonderful fruit, big berry flavor. Full-bodied, great with pasta salad, honey-mustard chicken, or even a basic burger. A beautiful wine from the Western hills above the town of Napa.

1998 Ojai California Syrah ($25). Another win for the Tolmach winemaking family. Blueberry, beautiful balance. Works well with big meats like venison, or any mahi-mahi that is grilled. A fine wine for spicy foods, like Indian or burritos.

David Marglin can be reached at wine@phx.com.

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