Summer sips: chillable reds

CHICAGO — Midway through what’s shaping up to be the hottest year on record, you’ve likely succumbed to a certain sweat-stained lethargy this summer. As temperatures continue to soar, you might ask, what’s the perfect wine to weather the dog days ahead?

Given rosé’s meteoric rise these past two decades, you might think pink. Indeed, while the delirium of “rosé all day” has passed, those blush-hued sips are still a welcome escape. And it’s hard to beat the refreshment of a salt-struck, zippy white when you’re melting faster than an ice cube. But the plot twist this summer? After years of simmering under the radar, chilled reds as a category have catapulted into the mainstream, emerging as this summer’s most fashionable pour.

To be clear, drinking red wine chilled is nothing new. While most Americans habitually serve red wine at room temperature, wine professionals have long advocated for cooler serving temperatures closer to cellar conditions around 55 to 60 degrees.

A delicate balance

Served too warm, red wine can seem flabby, boozy or muddled by flavors that seem jammy or stewed. Regardless of grape variety, style or climate, a slight chill can lend focus to nearly any red wine, brightening fruit flavors and counteracting the weightiness of alcohol.

“In terms of texture and weight, reds become a bit more streamlined on the palate when chilled,” said Tenzing Palden, wine director and sommelier at Bonyeon, the newly opened West Loop restaurant where beef takes center stage in an omakase-style tasting menu. There’s an added perception of lightness, he suggestd, “that makes the wine more quaffable, more easily drinkable.”

At Hawksmoor, River North’s new outpost of the British steakhouse, sommelier Miranda Gustafson recommends serving all red wines slightly below room temperature. But temperature can be a delicate balance, and Palden and Gustafson advise against over-chilling very structured reds — big, high-alcoholic Napa Cabs, a tannic Barolo or a complex Bordeaux with extended oak aging, for example.

“Wines with a lot of complexity, higher alcohol or time in oak lose a lot of nuance when they’re chilled too low,” Palden explained. And excessively low temperatures can accentuate tannins, increasing the perception of astringency in a wine, Gustafson said.

But some red wines are particularly suited for chilling. And more than just cool, they’re the kind of thirst-quenching, crowd-pleasing reds that might easily be served as cold as a white or rosé. The French describe these irresistible wines as glou glou, wines such as gamay from Beaujolais, cabernet franc from the Loire, or blends of poulsard or trousseau from the Jura. But this summer, you’ve likely encountered entire sections of “chillable reds” at your local wine bar or wine shop. Many are less familiar in name — trollinger from Germany (also known as schiava in Northern Italy), dolcetto from Piedmont in Italy, or pais, also known as the mission grape, found in Chile or California, for example.

Typically light-bodied and moderate in alcohol, they’re bright, fruity wines with crisp acidity and harmonious tannins. Approachable in both style and price point, they mirror a global shift, particularly among younger consumers, “away from richer, more extracted, fuller-bodied wines,” Palden suggested.

Tailor-made for cool

This shift in consumer taste profiles has been at the forefront of the minds of Thibault and Benoit Brotte, fifth-generation vintners who joined the helm of Maison Brotte, their family’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape winery in 2015. Faced with the challenge of global declines in red wine consumption, the brothers developed a new model of Côtes-du-Rhône red — a light-bodied, expressively fruity wine designed specifically to be served cold.

In 2021 when the brothers began exploring the idea, whites, rosés, beer and cocktails — all products meant to be enjoyed cold — were trending upward, Thibault Brotte said. A chillable red would better align with consumers looking for easy-drinking aperitifs or the kind of wine suitable to drink outdoors on a hot summer day, he said.

They initially tried serving their classic Côtes-du-Rhône red chilled, but “it didn’t work,” Thibault Brotte said. “Cold (temperatures) masked the aromas and brought out the tannins,” he said. So they formulated a new cuvée made with “grapes picked ripe, but not overripe” and fermented with up to 25 percent white grapes such as grenache blanc and clairette to accentuate the freshness, perfume and acidity of grenache and syrah.

Their Signature Thibault Brotte Côtes-du-Rhône has seen a 50 percent increase in sales from 2023 to 2024, Thibault Brotte said.

Versatile dining companions

Beyond sheer refreshment, a properly chilled red can be versatile too. Like a rosé, but perhaps with a bit more panache, a cool red can bridge the gap between white and red wines, standing up to hearty meat dishes without overwhelming lighter fare such as salads or seafood.

At Hawksmoor, Gustafson suggests wines of different weight, body and temperature depending on the cut of steak and sauce a guest chooses. A leaner cut of steak such as filet mignon or Chateaubriand paired with “a lighter, brighter sauce like our anchovy hollandaise gives you a bit of salinity that plays really well with a crisp red,” she said.

Adjustments in wine temperature are also a carefully considered element of the sommelier’s playbook at Bonyeon, where it’s not unusual to have four or five distinct reds lined up with successive beef pairings, Palden said. Variations in temperature create “a roller-coaster effect that can break up the monotony” of the experience, he said.

How to chill your reds

A brief stint in the refrigerator — 20 to 30 minutes — can substantially cool a bottle of wine. As will 10 to 15 minutes in an ice bath. In a pinch, the freezer can do the job too, but set a timer for no longer than 10 minutes to avoid over-chilling.

Straight from the fridge, reds might initially seem flat and frigid. But an added benefit of serving your wine cool is that you can participate in its evolution as it warms to room temperature, observing how its aromas unfurl and its weight and texture transform.

For those who opt to chill their reds with ice cubes, Palden takes a diplomatic stance. It’s your wine, enjoy it as you like, he said. “And frankly, there are wines that might benefit from some ice cubes,” he said, “but at that point, you’re probably trying to not taste the wine at all, so you might just reach for a beer instead.”