5 rules for putting ice in your wine

TO ADD OR NOT TO add, that is the question, to paraphrase The Bard.

But in this particular case, we’re not talking about whether or not we exist in Denmark.

We’re talking about a less literary topic — whether or not to put ice in wine.

Ask the internet this question and you’ll get 274 million responses. And like anything on the internet, everyone’s got an opinion. And don’t even get people started about what type of ice cubes to use. Believe me, you will be amazed at the endless debate about what makes the perfect ice cube. There are even entire books dedicated to how to make perfect ice cubes.

But let’s leave that issue alone and simply stick to whether or not you should add ice to your wine.

Some say never. Others say why not.

As for me, I’m here to say … sometimes.

So when should you add ice to your wine?

I have five suggestions for when you might want to add ice to your wine. I realize the headline says “rules.” But remember, rules are made to be broken. So if you don’t agree with them, that’s fine too.

Let me add that don’t go crazy with the ice. One or two ice cubes at most should be fine. The more ice you add, the more diluted the wine — which means you won’t really taste the wine that much at all. So keep that in mind if you have a special bottle of wine. Because if you’re adding a lot of ice,

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Glendale Ridge Vineyard: afternoon. you won’t really taste what makes that wine so special. Then again, if it’s really hot outside, if you’re not that fussy about a particular wine and you’re really thirsty, keep the ice coming. I can personally say that’s what I was doing on a recent vacation when it got pretty hot some afternoons and a group of us were drinking pitchers of inexpensive white wine.

Sweetness: Sometimes, some wines taste too sweet for some people’s tastes. If you add an ice cube, that will often make the wine taste less sweet. But again, in most cases, one or two ice cubes will do the trick. And if the wine is really too sweet, perhaps you might want a drier wine instead.

Hope these suggestions help. And hope you enjoy.

• 5 Rules For Adding Ice To Wine

White or rose: In general, if I do add ice to wine, it’s almost always white wine or rose wine. As for red wine, sure, if you want to add an ice cube to make your wine colder, go for it. But my advice would be to not drink red wine if you simply want something cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. Save that red wine for another day and have a chilled rose or white wine instead.

Temperature: This is the big reason why many people, including myself, put ice in wine. It’s because it’s really hot outside or because the wine itself is warm — and no one wants to drink warm wine on a hot summer

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Age: By age, I’m not referring to the age of the wine. If a great wine has been in someone’s cellar for 5 or 10 years and it’s hot outside, that might not be the day you decide to open that wine and pop in a few ice cubes. By age, I’m talking about a bottle of wine that has been opened for few days or perhaps even longer. When this happens, many wines lose a lot of the character that made them special in the first place. Luckily, if you add an ice cube or two, any odd flavors often disappear. I speak from recent experience. There was a bottle of open rose wine that had been in our fridge for several weeks. I tasted the wine and it had a slightly odd effervescence. Added two ice cubes? Presto — the wine tasted just fine.

Preference: This is probably the best reason why you should add ice to your wine – because you like how your wine tastes with ice. Believe me, I know there are a lot of wine snobs out there (and before all you beer drinkers get on your high horse, I think we can all agree there are a ton of beer snobs out there too) who get all bent out of shape whenever someone doesn’t follow some set of unwritten rules that they think applies changes. Listings must be received two weeks before the date of the event. Items should be mailed to Entertainment Guide, The Republican, P.O. Box 1329, Springfield, MA 01102-1329, emailed to pmastriano@repub. com or submitted to masslive. com/myevent to all wine drinkers. Life’s too short. Who cares what they think? If you want to put ice in your wine, no one should stand between you and your freezer. Break out the ice and settle into your happy place. Cheers!

Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s Weekend section every Thursday

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