If you want to get more serious about temperature -- and I think it's well worth the trouble -- you can do a little experimenting. Chill a bottle of red wine overnight in the refrigerator. Get yourself a thermometer and pour and taste the wine as it rises through the various temperature levels. Touch the bottle to learn how the different temperatures feel on the back of your hand (just like feeling your kids' foreheads). You'll be an expert in a matter of hours, and you'll be able to serve every kind of wine at its ideal temperature.

• Full-bodied reds, such as Bordeaux, California Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Rhone Valley, Australian Shiraz, Burgundy, Oregon Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Italian Brunello and Barolo and port, show themselves best at 60ºF to 65ºF (about forty-five minutes in the fridge; bottle should be slightly cool to the touch). This is the warmest you should ever serve any wine. The truly great Burgundy whites, like Montrachet, drink more like reds than like whites and will also exhibit their flavors best at these temperatures.
• Light, fruity reds, like Italian Dolcetto and young Chianti, Valpolicella, young Rioja from Spain and Loire Valley reds like Chinon and Bourgueil do best at 50ºF to 60ºF (about one and a half hours in the fridge; bottle starting to feel cold).
• Likewise, the 50ºF to 60ºF range is ideal for substantial white wines, such as most white Burgundy, California and Australia Chardonnay and German Spatlese and Auslese, as well as high quality dessert wines like Sauternes and late-harvest Rieslings.
• Light, fruity whites, such as French whites from the Loire, Alsace and Bordeaux, lighter Australian whites, Oregon Pinot Gris and all Sauvignon Blancs are best at 45ºF to 50ºF (two hours in the fridge; bottle cold to the touch). This is also the proper range for fine vintage champagne and ice wine.

Only the simplest wines should be ice cold (below 45ºF; three hours in the fridge). Basic Spanish and Portuguese whites (like Vinho Verde), the lesser-quality sweet wines, rosés and non-vintage sparkling wines.

Five Great reasons for owning a Wine Cooler. Check them out at: http://www.winecoolersshop.com/

Why a Wine Cooler/Fridge

Paso Robles is a great city for the entire family to enjoy!  We originally ventured there to camp at a high end RV park and play at the water slide park across the street.  At the last minute we rented a van and had a friend in their extra cab truck follow behind.  (We had to have a place to store all the wine we purchased.)  There is nothing better than wine tasting with 14 friends as the nanny watches all the kids back at the campground.  We headed east on Highway 46 stopping at EOS where we bought some of their lighter Chardonnays.  We then turned around and headed west on 46 stopping at Lone Wolf, an excellent boutique winery where the blends were smooth.  We ramped it up a bit as we took over the small tasting room at the Four Wines Vineyards as they were undergoing major construction.  The construction is complete and we cannot wait to go back for their Anarchy (a bold blend) and the Naked Chardonnay. We bought some cool stemless glasses with great logos engraved on them.  We spent hours there partaking in their exceptional wines, fun tattoos, learning their untraditional wine making methods and name of their wines. We were beginning to float by now and desperately needed to picnic with the cheeses, prosciutto, olives, bread and other morsels that compliment wine tasting. We stopped at winery with a large outdoor patio and sold our friends on how a really good Rose can compliment the food we were eating.  Our next stop and last on the list was Tobin James Winery.  What a hoot. The atmosphere was fun and very conducive to drinking (a large saloon style tasting room).  The wines were fantastic and it is a very good club to join.

Someone from our group joined a wine club at each winery we visited. They all had relatively reasonable prices. We filled the truck front and back, floor to ceiling with numerous cases purchased throughout the day. There was only room for the driver.  Truly a successful adventure!

As we were driving our motor home back we realized that keeping all of our newly purchased wines at the appropriate temperature was going to be tough. We saw the purchase of a wine refrigerator in our near future.