Drink red wine at room temperature and white wine cold right? Wrong! Here is our recommendation on how to get the best flavour out of your red and white wine.

It is often said that red wine should be served at room temperature and white wines chilled in the fridge long before serving. These ideas really came from Europe, in particular the French, as their ambient temperatures are a lot lower than ours. An ambient room temperature in Australia is 24°c – 30°c and for reds, this is far too warm. At this temperature, red wines start losing their freshness and complexity that it was created with, in addition it can start getting an overpowering intensity of alcohol.

At the opposite end of the scale, if you were to drink your white wines straight from the fridge at 4°c, you'd taste only the acid components of the wine. This can mean you miss the important integration of flavours that come with the variety you are drinking, be it lovely fresh florals from Pinot Gris or the subtle hints of vanilla or spice that comes from wines that have matured in oak.

So then how should you serve red and white wine? Here's our handy tip!

Take your white out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving and putting your red in for those same 20 minutes. If you have an ice bucket, leave your white wine in it to keep it cool but not cold. After 20 minutes, both your red and white wine will be at the perfect temperatures to serve and enjoy!