Cool it
There are glimpses of sunshine now and again these days, so it's not such a bad idea from time to time to try a light red wine lightly chilled.
Certain wines are better than others treated this way, generally younger, relatively less alcoholic ones, and often those from cooler growing regions. You might sentence the following to a spell in the cooler, for starters, and see what you think:
- The red wines of the Beaujolais, including the cru wines (Fleurie and Brouilly are among the more familiar on Irish shelves);
- Pinot Noirs, though I wouldn't raid the old man's prize collection. The more affordable wines from the Loire Valley in France, New Zealand or Chile might fit the bill very nicely, with a Wiener Schnitzel or chicken salad perhaps.
- Having mentioned Pinot Noirs from the Loire, I can't resist recommending its other reds: Cabernet Franc, Gamay and Malbec (often called Côt) are among the usual suspects.
- There's that Tarrango from Brown Brothers, and any number of lightish (hold the bottle up to the light and see if you can see through it) Spanish and Portuguese wines.
