Wine

How To Keep Wine Cool

As summer heats up, it’s time to learn some nifty tricks to ensure your wine cools down quickly. When the occasion calls for a refreshing glass of vino, but you don’t have the time it takes for the fridge to do its thing, refer to our guide below.

THE QUICK CHILL

Ice ice baby

It hardly needs saying, but popping a bottle of wine into a wine bucket or cooler with some ice and cold water should do the trick. If it’s really hot weather, you’ll need to top up the ice.

Salt it

If your wine is not chilling down quickly enough in its water bath, simply add some salt (to the water, of course). In theory, salt reduces water’s freezing point and makes the solution colder without turning to ice.

Give it a spin

Gently spinning the bottle in its water/ice bath every few minutes will keep the wine in the bottle moving, thus bringing it into contact with the cold glass, and cooling it quicker. 

A general warning, this is for still wines only – try this with a bottle of Sparkling and you’ll be in for a nasty surprise when you release the cork.

Wet it down

Putting wine in the freezer will chill it relatively quickly, but to speed up the process, wet a clean dish towel and wrap it around the wine bottle before you pop it in. The dampness conducts and holds in cold better, and having the icy cold towel pressed against the bottle ensures that the entire surface of the bottle is being chilled.

Balls

For a quick way to chill an individual glass of wine, try some chill balls. Kept in your home freezer, these nifty little gadgets will cool your wine without watering it down.

Grape fun

An edible version of chill balls, frozen grapes will do the trick and you’ll also have a healthy snack on hand.

Chill smaller amounts

Pour the wine into individual glasses and pop them in the fridge or freezer making sure you put them on a tray so they don’t tip over. If you have space in your fridge you can also store some wine glasses in it, so next time you’re in need you’ll have a chilled vessel.

Lakes & Fjords

Even in the height of summer, if you happen to be in Northern Europe or Scandinavia, simply pop your wine in the nearest lake, fjord or river for an almost instant chill.

THE LASTING CHILL

When you’re out and about or entertaining outside, the simple and reliable method is the good old fashion esky with ice, thermal cooler bags with frozen packs and ice buckets.

If any or all of these methods fail, just go for the ice in the wine option and drink faster! Cheers to summer!