Is it wine yet? Thermometers say 'when'
For wine simpletons like me, it's easy enough to serve wine in the summer. Just uncork a bottle of red, or serve whites and sparkling wines chilled. It's a bigger issue for people with tens of thousands of dollars invested in their wine cellars. Serving wine at its best means getting your money's worth. That's where wine thermometers come in.
One of the least expensive: Napa Essentials Wine Thermometer, which goes for $9.99 at iKitchen.com. It's a stainless steel cuff that goes around the wine bottle, providing a digital reading on the bottle's temperature and corresponding suggested serving ranges.
On the same site, Turning Leaf's Electronic Wine Thermometer lists for $18.99 and uses a stainless steel probe to test whether your wine is ready to drink. You get digital readings in Fahrenheit and Celsius, plus an LED display that lights up when preferred drinking temperatures are reached, for Cabernet Sauvignon to champagne.
For those who disdain dipping anything into the bottle, BonJour's Culinary Lazer Thermometer may do the trick. Aim the laser at the wine and squeeze the trigger and the temperature comes up on the LCD display. It comes with a steep price at $89.99, but, to be fair, it's supposed to work elsewhere in the kitchen, telling you how hot a pot on the stove is, as well as the contents.
If you like a battery-free, analog option, check out CDN's InstaRead Wine Thermometer. It acts as a thermometer and stopper in one, and touts a color-coded face that tells the home sommelier when it's right to drink everything from sweet white Rieslings to Merlot and other full reds.
All that said, it's OK to revert to the artistic method, says Kristian Emerson, a wine adviser at Grapes in Norwalk, Conn., who does not use a wine thermometer. He takes chardonnays out of the fridge to warm up a touch and open up the flavors. And reds that are too warm in the summer heat can be taken down a peg by placing the bottle in the freezer for five minutes of so. "You can experiment a little," he says. "But be careful."