Here are some tips for keeping wine cool on hot, summer days. (Photo by Ken Ross)

As temperatures soared this past week in New England, staying cool became the main focus for many of us.

Additional fans and air conditioners were quickly purchased or dragged out of the closets in many houses.

Personally, I leapt at any excuse to run an errand in our air-conditioned car or rummage around in our relatively-cool basement.

All of which got me thinking in my heat-crazed mind.

What are the best hot weather wines?

But before we get to them next week, I thought I would offer a few tips to help you enjoy whatever wines you have on hand while it’s especially warm outside.

So this week, for all of us who are baking like cookies in an oven, here are five suggestions for how to enjoy your wine when temperatures soar into the upper 80s, 90s or higher.

Let me add that I fully realize the best thing to drink when it’s hot outside is a glass of ice-cold water.

Alcohol can dehydrate you. So remember to drink plenty of water if you’re having a glass of wine this week or any week for that matter.

File this suggestion under “obvious” but it goes without saying that any chilled wine tastes great on a scorching hot day. So how cold should you chill your wine? There’s a lot of debate even among wine professionals. Some say 40 degrees. Others say 50 or 55 degrees or perhaps even warmer depending on the wine.

In general, I would suggest chilling your white wine or sparkling wine to 40 degrees. Most red wines taste best when the wine’s 50 to 55 degrees, or basically the temperature of a wine cellar in a stone castle. If you don’t happen to own a stone castle, just make sure any wine’s not too cold, even if it’s white wine or sparkling wine. If the wine’s below 40 degrees, many of the subtle flavors don’t emerge because the wine’s just too darn cold.

Once you take the wine out of the fridge, make sure you keep the wine cold. This includes red wine. (Yes, you read that right.) Again, don’t chill the red wine too much. Next time you’re at a wine store, ask for a “wine cooler sleeve.” If they’re not sure what you’re looking for, it’s like an ice pack that you place around a wine bottle. It’s perfect for keeping wines cold on hot days.

Another easy way to keep wine cold is to put the bottle in a bucket filled with ice. I personally only do this with white wines or sparkling wines since an ice bucket gets the wine really cold. You can buy all sorts of fancy ice buckets but you don’t have to if you don’t want to spend a fortune. Any metal pail from the hardware store will do. I recommend a metal ice bucket since they keep the wine cold and they’re easy to clean. Just sure the bucket’s big enough so you can keep the wine submerged beneath the ice.

This might sound like sacrilege to some wine connoisseurs but don’t feel bad about adding an ice cube to your wine, especially a white wine or sparkling wine. Just be aware that the ice will dilute the flavors fairly quickly. So don’t put too much ice in your wine, unless you basically want to drink flavored water.

Personally, I find one ice cube does the trick. Plus, if one ice cube is not enough, you can always add more. And if you’re worried about diluting the wine’s flavors too much, simply spoon the ice out of the wine once your wine’s cool enough. You can always add more ice later.

This is a broad generalization. And believe me, some red wines seem to be just fine in the heat. But in general, when it’s really hot like this past weekend – when temperatures soared into the high 90s – dealing with red wines can be very challenging.

As I explained above, wine can warm up fast. And if you don’t keep the wine properly chilled, you’re frankly not getting the most of your wine. Besides, who doesn’t love an ice-cold wine on a hot day? It’s no different than when it comes to beer. There’s nothing worse than a warm beer on a hot day.

If the temperatures are in the mid to high 90s, now might not be the time to open a super red wine you’ve been saving for a special occasion, especially when it comes to older red wines. These wines can be very temperamental and don’t do well in hot weather.

Most wines (red and white) crave cool temperatures, generally around 50 degrees. In the heat, delicate wines often wilt and taste a bit dull. You can chill a red wine in the fridge (20 minutes at 40 degrees often does the trick) but even then, wine can warm up fast in the glass when it’s hot. Wait for a cooler day to crack open sensitive, special wines.

(Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s weekend section every Thursday. Older “Wine Press” articles can be found here. Follow Ken Ross on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.)

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