In a Hurry? How to Chill Wine in Under 10 Minutes.
There’s nothing better than a chilled glass of wine after a long day at the office. Actually, there’s nothing better than chilled wine, period. Liquor stores have caught on, charging more money for chilled wine on the go, but they only offer a few select brands in their refrigerated section. Unfortunately for us, the entire wall of wine is warm on the shelf. But fear not, there are plenty of ways to get your white wine ice cold and in a glass in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Stranger Things.
Try these six ways to chill your Chablis, your Chardonnay, or your Riesling, or even your Pinot:
Cool it down.
Freezers are cold, but sticking a bottle of wine in the freezer takes too long—and you want it now. Amp up your game by taking a wet towel, dishcloth, or even paper towel and wrapping it around the wine bottle before you stick it in the freezer. Because the towel is wet, it holds the cold in better than just sticking your Chardonnay on a shelf. Speed up the process by letting your faucet run until the water is ice cold before wrapping up your bottle.
Feelin’ salty?
We already know that ice is cold, and helps chill your wine, but what you might not know is that salt reduces the freezing point of water. Remember that ice- cube, salt, and string science project they made you do in the first grade? You can use the same science to chill your vino at rapid speeds. Fill up a container—it’s faster if it’s metal—with ice and pour freezing cold water on top. Dash in a few sprinkles of good old table salt, and watch a little T.V. Your Chablis will be chilled after two commercial breaks.
Zip it up.
Party guests are on their way and you’re in a jam? Pour half of the bottle into a trusty zippered bag and dunk it in an ice bath. Walk away and set up your cheese tray, light some candles, and dim the lights. The Pinot will be nice and cold as they’re ringing the doorbell, and you can pour directly from the bag into the glass. Repeat with the rest of the wine, or do two bags at once—it only takes about 7 minutes from bottle to glass.
Garnish your Gruner.
Want to add a little class to your glass? If you’re a wino, it never hurts to have a secret weapon in your freezer: frozen grapes. Poke a few holes into the grape with a needle or a fork. Drop a few grapes into a glass, wait a minute, and start to sip. The grapes won’t melt and water your wine down like ice, and add a bonus to the bottom of the glass—a snack. By the time you finish your glass, the grape should have a little kick to it. Getting more wine drunk off of the beautiful fruit it’s made from; can you think of anything better?
Do the twist.
Get out your trusty Tupperware container big enough to submerge an entire bottle of wine. If you don’t have one, try a saucepan—it works every time! Fill the plastic container, sauce pan, bucket…whatever you have on hand, with ice cold water Toss in some ice cubes, some salt, and spin the bottle. Keep spinning every thirty seconds to a minute. The spinning moves the wine around in the bottle, exposing more of the grapey goodness to the cold. In just ten minutes you can have an ice cold bottle of vino on the counter and in the glass.
Cork it.
If you’re willing to shell out a few bucks, you can use technology to have frosty white wine in just moments. It’s called the Corkcicle, and you can find one here. Just stick it in the freezer beforehand, open up your wine, and drop it in. Stick it in the freezer for extra chill. You’ll have ice cold wine in minutes. Worried that you’ll forget? Grab a couple of them on Amazon, and load up your freezer, that way you’ll always be ready to chill your wine, and most importantly, drink it. Once your wine is chilled, hand wash the Corkcicle and stick it right back into the freezer for your next wine-mergency.
Plug it in.
Are you a wino with few worries? Snag one of the Rapid Beverage Chiller, available here. Just open the lid and drop in the bottle. Their claim to fame is chilling wine to the perfect temperature in under four minutes. The Rapid Beverage Chiller has both spin and no spin settings for more delicate wines, and can also be used to chill soda, juice, and beer.
The most important thing to remember about white wine is that it is best served between 45 and 40 degrees. Wine serving temperatures vary by type, and can be found online.
No matter how you’re chilling it, bottoms up!
Article by Danielle Watson
Photo courtesy of @chuttersnap