Chilled Red Szn
Chilled Lite Red™️ Szn is officially here with this steamy weather (but also, plz stay hydrated in these extreme temps!), which is an excuse to write about the joys of chillable reds. In the Best summer red wines to drink chilled, Decanter recommends which reds to serve cold, some of which include Beaujolais/Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Frappato, and wine made using carbonic maceration, which is a fermentation technique that results in wine with bright acidity, low tannins, and a snap-crackle-pop texture. The article goes on to explain that lighter, younger styles of wines with fresh acidity, and low alcohol, are best for chilling (roughly 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in an ice bucket). I would also add Spätburgunder (German Pinot Noir but with an umlaut) and Zweigelt (Austria) to the chillable list.
Red Wine Temperature and U. In the New York Times Should Red Wines Be Served Cool?, Eric Asimov shares the outcome of his recent Wine School discussion examining how serving temperature affects red wine. Asimov suggested a few bottles — Broc Cellars North Coast Love Red 2021, Jean-Paul Brun Domaine des Terres Dorées Morgon 2020, and COS Terre Siciliane Frappato 2021 — for readers to chill and try, paying particular attention to how the wine evolves depending on its temperature.
Asimov thought the wines straight out of the fridge would be too cold, concealing its qualities (“cold kills nuance”), and that after 20-30 minutes they would be more accessible, but once reaching room temperature they would become less refreshing and lively.
It seems that the Broc Love Red was the most accessible of the three wines when chilled. Asimov explains that Broc Cellar’s Love wines are meant for early consumption, what he refers to as “Pop ’n’ Pour bottles.”
Asimov concludes that “while a light chill is good, you must be careful cooling reds any more than that,” and ends by writing that “people, like bottles, each have their perfect temperatures.” Wine is personal so you do you when it comes to chilling red!
Recent and Upcoming Ontario Vintages. In the Globe and Mail’s With an exceptional vintage on shelves, Ontario winemakers face challenges ahead, Christopher Waters delves into recent and upcoming Ontario vintages (the year the grapes are harvested aka picked).
On the 2020 vintage, Waters writes that the warmer and drier year “made for an abundance of high-quality grapes with nicely concentrated flavours,” and that there will be many nice wines — look for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc — over the coming months.
On the next vintage, Waters explains that with record setting temps, drought, rain, and humidity, “2021 is the sort of year that rewards the producers that were focused on farming to keep tabs on the variable conditions, but that the “variability in the weather is sure to make for variable wine quality.”
And 2022 sounds like it may be a challenging vintage, with many Niagara wineries having started their growing seasons with reduced crops due to extreme winter temps.
It’s too soon to assess the overall damage. Some are suggesting an industry-wide shortfall of 50 per cent. But the vagaries of farming mean that reduction isn’t shouldered equally. Some healthy vineyards are looking at full crops, others face having little to no grapes to harvest.
In Ontario, harvest usually begins around September, and into Nov/Dec for late harvest wines, followed by Dec/Jan for ice wine.
