Drinking chilled red wine is no longer taboo: here are the most suitable labels for summer evenings
The ideal temperature is between 10 and 12 degrees. Beware, however, of chilled wine: there is no point in anaesthetising aromas and flavours (and enhancing tannins)
When one speaks of red wine served chilled, one does not mean chilled. And this applies to any wine, because excessive cold anaesthetises aromas and flavours, turning the tasting into a patient excavation in search of what the wine has to tell. Below 5 degrees, more than drinking a wine, one tries to understand what it is talking about.
For summer reds, the ideal temperature is generally between 10 and 12 degrees. A result that can easily be achieved by leaving the bottle in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes or for about ten minutes in a bucket with ice, water and coarse salt: a simple solution, within everyone's reach, without bothering with the salt flats of Maldon, Cervia or some remote stretch of the Himalayas.
But which reds really work when served chilled? The rule is simple: not too much tannin, not too much alcohol and no long ageing. In fact, cold tends to accentuate acidity and tannin, attenuating softness. Translated: if we start with a muscular and austere red, we risk turning a summer dinner into a routine papillae maintenance session.
The identikit described so far leads straight to it: Lambrusco. Fresh, dynamic, gastronomic, it is probably the red wine that most naturally disproves the cliché that only white and rosé wines should be drunk in summer.
In the list of the underrated greats, I would without hesitation include the Schiava Alto Adige and the Grignolino del Monferrato, which Luigi Veronelli called 'the most anarchic of wines'. Two less fashionable reds today, but even in wine, fashions pass. And fortunately.
Tried fresh with a vitello tonnato, a gazpacho or even a seafood salad, they make for surprising pairings.
