Forget to chill the wine and your friends are arriving any minute? No problem. Here’s how to chill wine fast in just minutes!
Chances are you’ve been there. You have everything just perfect for your dinner party, then you realize just as your guests ring the doorbell that you forgot to chill the wine.
Sure, you could stick it in the fridge and wait an hour for it to cool down, but who has that kind of time?
So I headed to the kitchen and tested 5 different methods for cooling wine quickly. The good news is, you can chill a whole bottle in just a few minutes with these easy hacks!
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I usually keep my white and rosé wine in a wine fridge. In fact, we have a whole post up on our sister site Urban Bliss Life on how to store wine at home.
But for these tests, I used room temperature bottles that were at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. My aim was to chill the wine down to 45° F, right around the optimal temperature to serve white or rosé.
Below are my results, starting with the best methods and how long they took.
Method 1: Fill bucket with ice water and salt
How to do it: Grab a large ice bucket and fill halfway with water and ice. Then pour in a few tablespoons of salt and stir. Next, place the wine bottle in the ice bucket so it’s partially submerged. Turn the bottle every 3 minutes or so.
How fast it worked: 15 minutes.
Why it worked: When salt mixes with ice water, it lowers the freezing point of water, making it colder. That means the wine can chill faster than in ice water alone. Turning the bottle also helped circulate the cold water so the wine chilled more evenly.
Final result: This method chilled the wine the quickest, so it’s the fastest way to do it if you’re in a serious time crunch.
🍾 Related: How Long Does Prosecco Last?
Method 2: Fill bucket with just ice water
If you want a bit less mess and fuss, you can use the same technique as method 1, just skip the salt.
How to do it: Fill an ice bucket about halfway with ice and cold water. Then submerge your bottle of wine. Turn it every few minutes.
How fast it worked: 20 minutes.
Why it worked: The principle here is pretty straightforward. But without the addition of salt, the ice water didn’t get as cold, so it took a bit longer for the wine to chill thoroughly.
Final result: It took just a few minutes longer to chill the wine to 45° F this way, but it had the fewest steps. So this is one of the easiest methods.
Method 3: Pour into a freezer bag, then place in freezer
How to do it: Start with a large, resealable freezer bag. Pour the entire bottle of wine into the bag and seal tightly. Place it on a level surface in the freezer.
How fast it worked: 20 minutes.
Why it worked: Removing the wine from the bottle and putting it into the plastic bag had a couple of benefits. First, the bag was a lot thinner than the thick glass bottle, so the cold air could more quickly affect the wine. Also, the bag spread the wine out over a larger, more even surface area so it could chill faster.
Final result: While it wasn’t as easy or convenient, this method was as fast as using a regular ice bucket. So if you don’t have a wine bucket or an ice bucket handy, this is your next best option.
Method 4: Wrap the wine bottle in a damp towel, then place in freezer
How to do it: Run some cold water over a kitchen towel until it’s damp. Then wrap it around the bottle and place it in the freezer.
How fast it worked: 30 minutes.
Why it worked: Wetting the towel helped it cool down more quickly in the freezer, creating a sort of cooling blanket around the wine. This chilled the wine faster than simply placing it in the freezer on its own.
Final result: This technique was a bit slower than the previous two, and it involved a bit more fuss as the towel got a bit stuck to the bottle during the freezing process. Still, it was effective in a relatively short amount of time.
Method 5: Chill in individual glasses
How to do it: Open the bottle of wine and pour it into separate glasses. Cover with plastic wrap (to limit spillage and seal out other fridge odors) and place in the fridge.
How fast it worked: 30 minutes.
Why it worked: Dispersing the wine into smaller portions meant there was less of it to cool per glass. So the separate glasses chilled faster than a whole bottle could.
Final result: This method required several extra steps, including opening the wine well ahead of time. But it’s fast and convenient since the wine is already pre-poured and ready to drink as soon as it’s chilled!
FAQ
It’s better to chill the wine rather than the glasses. Pouring room temperature wine into cold glasses won’t cool the wine down very much or for very long. By contrast, chilling the wine will allow it to cool more fully and stay cold for longer.
Adding the ice to the bucket first then putting the wine on top will mostly cool only the bottom of the bottle, and it will take much longer to chill the wine. Instead, put the bottle in the bucket first, then fill the bucket with both ice cubes and water. This will help chill the wine faster and more evenly.
Yes, red wine should be chilled slightly before serving. A good serving temperature for lighter reds like Pinot Noir is around 55° F. Chill bigger, bolder reds like Cabernet Sauvignon to around 60-65° F. To do it, simply place the bottle in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
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