boire du vin rouge en été

Can you drink red wine in summer?

When the sunny days come, wine lovers tend to abandon red wine in favor of fresher and lighter wines, such as white wine or rosé wine. However, if the high alcohol content of certain red wines and the heat of summer do not always go well together, there are alternatives to avoid depriving yourself of drinking red wine in summer .

Opt for light red wines

In summer, we naturally turn to a lighter and fresher diet, which allows us to cool down, hydrate ourselves, and facilitate digestion, a process which requires energy and can sometimes make us hot. The same goes for red wine. If you want an alternative to rosé wines and summer white wines, it is better to turn to a bottle of low-tannin red wine , with a low alcohol content.

We therefore recommend that you select red wines based on Pinot Noir , which are light and fruity. Wines from Beaujolais or the Loire Valley are also excellent choices.

Serve a young, fresh red wine

Generally speaking, the older a red wine gets, the more it develops its aromas and becomes a little too complex for a small summer wine. Furthermore, an old wine always has more difficulty adapting to high temperatures. It is then recommended to choose young red wines , which will have beautiful freshness and pleasant acidity.

And if you are used to serving red wine at room temperature in winter, when it is cold, as oenologists recommend, in summer, it is better to serve red wine a little cooler than usual . It will thus be more pleasant in the mouth, and with the ambient heat, it will have a little more room for warming before being definitively too hot and heavy in the mouth.

How to keep a red wine at the correct serving temperature?

The problem in summer is that the wine heats up quickly, and becomes less pleasant. This is even more true for red wine, which doesn't really like heat. So, if you plan to open a nice bottle of red wine in the middle of summer, here are some tips to prevent it from heating up too quickly .

  • Chill the bottle of wine a few hours before serving, by placing it in the fridge, in an ice bucket or in a very cool wine cellar. Remember that if the tradition is to serve red wine at room temperature, this custom was especially applicable at the time when houses were not heated;
  • Consider chilling the wine glasses . This way the wine will be in contact with a cool surface, which will slow down the process of warming the wine a little. Furthermore, drinking from a cool glass is always very pleasant in the heat;
  • Serve in narrow chalice glasses to keep the wine fresh as long as possible. Furthermore, by serving half glasses, you also delay the warming of the wine.

Our best red wines for summer 2023

Don't want to deprive yourself of a good glass of red wine this summer? Here is a selection of red wines that will be easily enjoyed, even in hot weather.

Do you prefer red wines to white wines and rosé wines? When summer comes, don't deprive yourself of enjoying a good bottle of red wine , by choosing wines from our selection.


Our selection of wines

New
Rosé Wine 2023 AOP Côtes de ProvenceGrande Récolte
CHF 78
Box of 6 bottles - 75 cl
More info
Rosé 2022 AOP Côtes de ProvenceGrande Récolte
CHF 78
Cardboard of 6 bottles - 75 cl
More info
Exclu web
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Rosé 2021 AOP Côtes de ProvenceGrande Récolte
CHF 89.70
Cardboard of 6 bottles - 75 cl
More info
Exclu web
White 2017 AOP Côtes de ProvenceChâteau de Berne Grande Cuvée
CHF 120
Cardboard of 6 bottles - 75 cl
More info