
Summer calls for chilled red wine
The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.
The types of red wine that fare best when chilled are those that are fruity, youthful and not too tannic. The punching down or pumping over of a wine can extract tannins from the skins, pips and stalks. Often confused with the mouth-puckering effect of acidity, the best way I can describe the sensation of tannins is it's a bit like when you drink the last dregs of a cup of green tea: it tastes all stemmy and dry, and you can feel where you've been biting the inside of your cheeks.
'In hot and sweaty Barcelona, we serve all our reds at between 11C and 12C,' says Benji Sher, owner and sommelier at the city's Fluid wine bar. 'That's definitely too cold for the super-tannic bangers, but I'd rather things slowly warm up in the glass. Better to be too cold than too hot.'
'A cold wine is more a thing to drink and less a thing to savour,' says J Lee, a New York-based food writer whose semi-anonymous musings on flavour I trust disproportionately considering I've never met him. 'I think the way we're consuming wine is becoming more casual,' he says. 'A cold wine is never so serious, and most other beverages that people drink casually are served cold: beer, cocktails, White Claw … I'm looking forward to ice cubes in wine coming back.'
Perhaps that is the logical next step for those among us who want our reds to remain chilled all summer long? I have to confess, popping an ice cube in my wine glass isn't something I've yet tried for fear that it will dilute the wine, and therefore my drinking experience, which doesn't bear thinking about. But then I think of my beloved iced coffee. Not only is this apparently the reason I'll never own a house, but it's also something I suck up so ravenously quickly that the fact that the ice may dilute the coffee doesn't even cross my mind. Perhaps that's the thing: something as simple and delicious as a chilled red needn't concern itself with the heat. By the time the ice would have melted, it'll already be in your belly. Ideally alongside some saucisson.
Morrisons The Best Côtes du Rhône Villages £9.75, 10.5%. Crafted in the Rhône village of Sablet by Boutinot for Morrisons own-label range, this is all dark fruit.
W/O Organic Frappato 2023 £12.99 Laithwaites, 13.5%. Many a sommelier recommends frappato as a wine that thrives when chilled.
Geyerhof StockWerk Zweigelt 2023 £12.95 The Wine Society, 12%. Rousing savoury tea and bramble fruit notes in this Austrian red, which tend generally to fare well when served a bit colder.
Marchesi Migliorati Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2022 £22 Passione Vino, 12.5%. Generous montepulciano from a remarkable independent importer. Check out their other stuff, too.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Tour de France final stage neutralised after slippery road conditions
PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - The final stage of the Tour de France saw its competitive element largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions. Following a pre-stage check, officials identified several sections of the course as dangerously slippery. The stage goes up the cobbled roads of the Butte Montmartre three times. "After a reconnaissance carried out before the stage, and after noting that certain sections had slippery road conditions, it was decided, in agreement with the president of the commissaires' panel, that the times would be frozen at kilometre 82, that is, on the 4th crossing of the finish line," organisers said in a statement. "A stage classification will be established, but it will not affect the general classification." The overall standings will therefore remain unchanged, preserving the yellow jersey leader's position. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar will, however, still need to cross the finish line to be declared winner of the race.


The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025 finale: stage 21 takes the race into Paris
Update: Date: 2025-07-27T14:12:22.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Tadej Pogacar has more than a four-minute lead going into the final stage to Paris, and is a crash-free ride away from winning his fourth Tour. The Slovenian was the heavy favourite going into this race but has still been supreme. After gaining an early advantage, he has kept Jonas Vingegaard at bay, despite everything the Dane has thrown at his rival. Despite his victory being nearly sewn up, Pogacar remains wary of complacency. 'Anything can happen but I'm not promising I'll go for it,' said Pogacar after Saturday's penultimate stage. 'We'll try to enjoy the yellow jersey in Paris.' There is a lot of talk that Pogacar might actually attack today. Let's see. Vingegaard is second (+4min24secs), Florian Lipowitz is third (11min90secs), just ahead of Scotland's Oscar Onley, who just misses out on the podium. But what a performance by the 22-year-old. Big things await for Onley in the future. Rain, cobbles and the Côte de la Butte Montmartre. As final stages of the Tour de France go, this one is certainly on the trickier side, even with the champagne glasses in hand. The threat of rain overshadows the finish in France's capital and the Tour's director of racing, Thierry Gouvenou, acknowledged that the Parisian cobbles can be treacherous when wet. 'We know with the slightest drop of rain, Paris is a real ice rink,' he said before the Tour. 'We saw it in the Olympic Games time trial. It can turn into a catastrophe.' After a lot of talk about neutralisation of the stage, it looks dry in Paris. If it does rain, then the Tour is likely to 'freeze' the overall standings, to ensure that the general classification is not affected by a last-day crash. 'The stage will be run, but the time will be frozen,' Gouvenou said. So, as ever, in terms of riders keeping their GC position, it is just a case of them staying upright.


BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Belgian Grand Prix build-up - radio & text
Update: Date: 13:17 BST Title: Several pit-lane starters Content: Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso are all starting from the pit lane today after changing their power units. Carlos Sainz also starts from the pit lane after changing the set-up on his car during parc ferme. Update: Date: 13:12 BST Title: 'I'm proud of the improvements I've been making' - Norris Content: Pole sitter Lando Norris, speaking to Sky Sports: "I've been working hard to try and improve, it's an important season and it's my job just as much as it's a teams job to try and give me a car that I like to drive. "It's also just my job to just drive whatever I have you know, I've been working a lot on trying to improve things and get better myself. "I think that's what I'm most proud about, not just the momentum and wins alone, but just the improvements that I've been making." Update: Date: 13:09 BST Title: Get involved Content: #bbcf1, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) How do you see today going, then? Expecting any big battles through the field from those towards the back? Let us know your podium predictions and all thoughts Belgian Grand Prix-related via #bbcf1, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) Update: Date: 13:06 BST Title: Weather update Content: Ian FergussonBBC weather forecaster Air temp is 18C & track recently 26C under brighter conditions. However, a trough approaching from the west looks set to threaten further showers, potentially heavy/thundery in the area, arriving from ~2pm local to race start. Update: Date: 13:03 BST Title: 'A typical Spa day' Content: Andrew BensonBBC F1 correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps The rain has been intermittent all day so far, stopping and starting, and varying in intensity, sometimes a downpour, sometimes just spitting. So, a typical Spa day, then. But that means the grand prix takes on a whole extra level of seriousness. This track is unforgiving at the best of times. In the wet it becomes extreme, and history has taught the sport lessons of the most tragic nature here. For that reason, decisions about whether to race or not will hang heavy, with two varying contingencies - is there enough grip, and is there enough visibility? Either could prevent the race starting, or cause it to be stopped. The high-speed nature of Spa means that it takes less rain to stop the cars running than would be the case at Monaco, for example, because the faster the cars go, the more spray they produce, so the quicker it gets to the visibility threshold. If it's wet enough for the extreme tyre to be needed, that probably means it's too wet to race. Officials will also be aware of the danger of a car crashing on the straight and coming back on to the track, where it can be hit in the spray by another. Those accidents are typically the most dangerous of all. The intermediate tyres wear quite quickly at Spa, and if the rain intensifies, the drivers will want fresh tyres, so this could be a race of multiple stops in the wet. A pit stop takes about 20 seconds under green-flag conditions, half that under a safety car. Update: Date: 13:00 BST Title: Three from three? Content: Lando Norris put it together when it mattered as he gave himself the best chance of making it three wins in a row by securing pole position yesterday. His eyes will be set on hauling in Oscar Piastri's nine-point advantage at the top of the drivers' championship. But, after a dry weekend so far, the rain has arrived today...