It’s a dilemma faced by many wine enthusiasts. You’ve been looking forward to that lovely chilled bottle of prosecco or wine all day, but disaster has struck!
You forgot to put it in the fridge, and it’s still warm. To get the most out of your wine it needs to be enjoyed chilled. So what can you do? How can you chill your wine fast so that you can enjoy it?
There are a couple of hacks you can use to adequately chill your wine so that you can enjoy it. So let’s take a look at the quickest ways that you can chill your wine!
What is the quickest way to chill wine?
There are several kitchen hacks that you can use to chill your wine so that you can enjoy it. Below are a couple of ideas to get you started so that you can enjoy a crisp glass of chilled wine!
Ice bucket with salt water
Making a DIY ice bucket with ice and salt water is one of the best ways to quickly chill your wine. This is because the salt in the water lowers the freezing point of the water, which means it can reach colder temperatures.
You’ll want to choose a bucket that can fit a whole wine bottle in it. Next, fill it with cold water, then add a few cups of salt.
A couple of tablespoons won’t be enough – you need to use a generous amount of salt to get the science to work. Now you can put your ice in the bucket, along with your bottle of wine.
This should help you to get your wine chilled within 15 minutes. To help speed up the process, you can move the wine bottle around in the ice and salt water mixture every couple of minutes.
Remember to never use this moving method with any champagne, prosecco, or other sparkling wine, as it could cause the bottle to explode. Once you`ve chilled your wine to the desired temperature you want to keep the temperature while drinking it. You can easily do this by using hard to break plastic wine glasses as plastic transfers heat and cold slower than glass.
Frozen grapes
Don’t want to risk watering down your wine with ice cubes? Then frozen grapes are the way to go. They will help to chill down your glass of warm wine and function just like ice cubes.
They make a tasty snack, too! You should try and choose the grapes that best suit the wine you’re drinking. Green grapes will be ideal with white wine, and red grapes will be perfect for red wine.
The only caveat with this method is that it requires a little forward planning. So it will be handy to keep a couple of grapes in your freezer just in case you accidentally forget to chill your wine. You could also try this with frozen blueberries or raspberries, too.
Chilled metal wine stones
Another kitchen hack you can use is to add chilled metal wine stones to your glass. These are also known as wine pearls. This will work similarly to the frozen grapes method, chilling your wine without watering it down in the process.
This method is often used by whiskey lovers with metal or granite whiskey stones to keep their drinks cool.
Good quality wine pearls will help to keep your glass of wine cool for up to 1 hour.
Place it in the freezer
The obvious resolution is to place your wine in the freezer. This will of course be effective, and will help to chill your wine within 10 to 30 minutes.
Some people recommend wrapping the bottle of wine in a damp towel beforehand, but this actually serves to insulate the bottle of wine, meaning it takes longer to cool. Make sure you set a timer to remind yourself that it’s in there, though!
It’s important to remember NEVER to place a bottle of prosecco or champagne in the freezer to try and chill it quickly. This will only explode, which we’re sure you don’t want to happen! Just imagine the waste of prosecco...
Decant into wine glasses for chilling
One of the reasons wine takes so long to chill is because of the glass bottle it’s kept in. Glass is a poor thermal conductor, so it can take a long time to sufficiently cool it down. So one of the best ways to cool it down faster is to remove it from the bottle!
Pour your wine out into glasses and place them in the refrigerator to chill. You can also cover them with plastic wrap if you want to keep out the aroma of your food.
Wine glasses are much thinner than the wine bottle, so your wine will be able to chill within 30 minutes. If you leave your wine in the bottle, it will take a whopping 90 minutes to cool down in the fridge.
Can you put ice in wine?
This is a controversial issue for wine enthusiasts. You can add ice cubes to your wine, however, you should be aware that it will likely start to water down the wine as the ice cubes melt.
You will need to make sure that you drink your wine in a reasonable amount of time, otherwise you risk the melting ice diluting your wine and ruining its flavor.
There’s a lot of snobbery when it comes to adding ice to your wine. However, you should do what’s best for you and your glass. If you want to add ice cubes to your wine, go for it! If not, then you can opt for one of the clever hacks that we’ve mentioned in more detail above.
In summary
So there you have it! You now know the best way to quickly chill your wine. These methods should be great for you to use in a pinch so that you and your guests can enjoy a lovely chilled bottle of Chardonnay or prosecco.
You could use a DIY ice bucket with salt water, invest in some wine pearls, and many more methods to help cool your bottle of wine down. Next time, make sure you put your bottle of wine in the fridge long before you need it!
