How Cold Should White Wine Be Served? It Depends.

With wine, different pours taste best at different temperatures. Unfortunately, the myth that white wine should always be served as cold as possible has been hard to break, which is why we often see the same bottles, whether at a picnic or in a restaurant, served in the same buckets of freezing ice.

If you want to get the most aroma and flavor out of your next bottle of white wine, rather than simply throwing it in the fridge a few hours before you plan on opening it, here are six easy tips to help you achieve the best temperature at which to serve it.

1. Avoid over-chilling

When you serve a white wine at too cold a temperature, you run the risk of diminishing its complexity when you sniff and sip it and can mute many of its most desirable aspects. Before you chill, take a moment to determine how cold the wine should be served to present its optimal profile.

2. Consider the weight of the wine

As a general rule, the lighter in texture a wine is, the colder it should be served. Conversely, richer wines tend to show best with less of a chill. A crisp, unoaked Pinot Grigio from Northern Italy will tend to be more pleasurable at a cooler temperature, whereas an oaky Napa Valley Chardonnay should be served with less of a chill to allow the aromas to develop.

Of course, room-temperature white wine, no matter how rich or crisp it might be, is generally not a good idea, but moderating or increasing the chill based on texture and weight is a smart strategy.

3. How mature is the bottle?

Red wines are more well-known for their aging ability, but there are plenty of whites that improve with time as well. These long-aging white wines can run the gamut in terms of weight, texture, and power, though the majority tend to be best enjoyed with slightly less of a chill than their more youthful counterparts. It’s all about allowing the complexity that’s evolved over the years to shine as clearly as possible.

4. Most sparkling wine is white wine, too

Too often, we discuss sparkling wines as if they’re somehow not often made from a white wine base. As such, the same rules apply to chilling them down as to all white wines: Lighter, crisper ones can generally handle more of a chill, whereas richer ones benefit from less time in the fridge or the ice bucket.

There is one caveat to note with Champagne and other traditional-method sparklers. Check out how long a particular cuvée has spent on the lees, since extended lees aging will impart yeasty, often bready or bakery-like notes that you won’t want to diminish with too much of a chill.

5. Let context be your guide

Colder temperatures tend to showcase crisper flavors in a white wine, so if you’re pairing your wine with a dish that will benefit from the bright pop of citrus notes, then you may want to consider giving the bottle a bit of extra time in the fridge or ice bucket to highlight those aspects.

If you plan on decanting a bottle of white wine — and yes, many white wines can benefit from decanting — you may want to cool it down a bit more than you otherwise might have, since the chill will tend to come off of it more quickly once it’s in the open and no longer being held within the cold glass of the bottle.

6. Explore your own preferences

Just as everyone tends to have preferences for specific grape varieties, regions, and styles, serving temperature is no different. To find your ideal, it’s not a bad idea to overchill your wine at first, pour a glass, and take a small sip every five minutes. Pay attention to when that particular wine is most enjoyable and use that information to help guide you. Some people enjoy their white wines cooler than others, and some prefer them with less of a chill. Taking a methodical approach is always a good idea.