Why You Should Think Twice About Putting Ice In Wine

Whether you're someone who loves to pop a few ice cubes into a glass of wine to chill it quickly without waiting on the bottle to get cold or you're someone who doesn't have a low opinion of ice in wine at all, you might need to reconsider your imbibing choices. While there are times when ice in wine is totally OK, according to VinePair, there are definitely a few things you need to consider before adding ice to just any glass of wine.

Richard Vayda, the director of wine studies at the Institute of Culinary Education, explained to VinePair that adding ice to wine can dilute every component. That includes "the colors, aromas, texture, and tastes," according to Vayda. Andrew Wilson of Goose Ridge Winery, meanwhile, told Wine Enthusiast that winemakers like himself "spend a lot of time and energy coaxing structure and aromas out of the grapes and preserving the freshness of wines, so it's a shame to have that lost by dilution when the ice melts into the wine." Even Elizabeth Gabay, a Master of Wine, points out that wines served cold require a different, specific profile.

But if you don't want to ruin or alter the complexity and profile of your wine, you might be wondering what the best options for quickly or almost immediately chilling wine could be. Fortunately, there are two easy methods anyone can use at home without any special tools to chill wine fast. And according to Decanter, the first is actually a frozen fruit. If you keep frozen grapes in the freezer, you can easily drop them into your glass of wine to cool it down without diluting it.

Those who want to chill an entire bottle or have slightly more time on their hands can use a bucket or bowl of ice, salt, and water to chill it. According to Serious Eats, combining those few ingredients together and rotating the bottle of wine submerged in it will bring the temperature down to a comfortably chilly level in just five minutes. If you choose not to constantly turn the bottle in the salted ice water, it could take up to 15 minutes. Either way, it's still an improvement for cold wine faster without ruining the bouquet.