When it comes to serving wine, to ensure you get the optimal flavor experience, it’s important to serve the wine at just the right temperature.

The problem, however, comes in knowing which temperature is the best for each varietal, and how to know when it’s at the correct temperature.

“Room temperature” is a loose term that doesn’t really apply in each country – so we’ve created an accurate guide for wine lovers.

White Wines

When it comes to whites, the temperature should be anything between 48°F and 55°F.

If you want to be extremely accurate, opt for serving these varietals at ideal temperatures:

Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion, Chenin and Pinot Gris should be served at 48°F.

Riesling, Viognier and Chardonnay should be at 50°F and Gewürztraminer should be slightly cooler than that.

Rosé should be consumed similarly to white wines at around 50°F.

Chilling the wines in a bucket of ice water for 20 minutes is the ideal way to get these wines at a temperature quickly. If you do have the time, storing the wine vertically in the fridge for around 3 hours should do the trick.

It’s important to not serve white wine too cold, especially full-bodied ones like Chardonnay as the cold dulls the wine’s flavors. Serving the wine directly from the fridge should never happen – and should be left outside the fridge for around 10 minutes before serving.

Red Wines

The temperature for serving red wines varies greatly from varietal to varietal. Generally, between 55°F and 65°F is the common range for red wines.

More specifically, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Nebbiolo, red blends, Sangiovese, Syrah and Zinfandel should be served at 62-65°F.

Ports, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir, Grenache, Cabernet Franc and Barbera, however, should be served at between 55°F and 60°F.

To get these reds cooled down, placing it in an ice bucket for around 10 minutes does the trick quickly. But, again, if there is time, store the wine in the fridge for about 2 hours. These wines can also be placed outside the fridge for a short while before served.

Sparkling Wines

Because of how sparkling wine can be made from either red, white or combined grapes, the precise temperature to serve it at differs from bottle to bottle.