Chillable red wines are hot now

Increasing interest for rosé wines has helped to create a category for chillable red wines, notably fresher and lighter styles that are more appealing when served cool. The most famous chillable red is Beaujolais or other bright and thirst-quenching styles made with that region’s signature grape, gamay.

The category grew as winemakers and sommeliers continue to promote cooling down lighter and juicy styles of red wine to enjoy during the warm weather months. Good examples would be less expensive cherry/berry-flavoured reds made from the barbera, pinot noir or zweigelt (aka rotburger) grapes. Basically, any young red wine that’s light or medium-bodied, with a thirst-quenching and fruity character is likely to show its best served chilled.

Chillable Red is the best-selling wine produced by California’s Franzia, which ranks as one of America’s leading producers of wine by volume and was the first U.S. winery sell wine in bag-in-box packages. It’s a sweeter style red wine that’s promoted as having “more body and flavour than a blush wine, softer than a traditional red wine.”

There are premium examples, too. Noticing the trend at wine bars around the world, Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake launched Alto Red last year. The blend of five red varieties and three white varieties grown on its estate was designed to sell to restaurants and independent bottle shops.

It’s important to note most red wines are more enjoyable when served with a slight chill. However, robust red wines, including cabernet sauvignon and blends, malbecs and shiraz with higher alcohol and overt oak-derived flavours risk tasting more astringent and unbalanced if cooled too much. (Even the best chillable red wine styles suffer if served too cold, by masking their aroma, flavour and structure.)

As we look forward to long, warm days ahead, it’s time to think about chilling red wine for maximum enjoyment. While there are various wine thermometers available, I suggest letting taste be your guide. Go for cool, not cold. Pop the bottle of red wine in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes and see how its tastes at that temperature. Lighter styles can chill for longer, up to an hour, before serving.