The fact that it’s summer doesn’t suggest that you must only consume rose and white wines. Many chill-friendly red wines are just as refreshing and offer the added advantage of opening up a new array of pairing options for food.
The trick when shopping for chillable red wines is to focus on bottles that are a bit higher in acidity and lower in tannin. Brighter and more mouthwatering reds will have their freshness amplified by a chill, and lower-tannin varieties will not turn too astringent or even woody after being the wine is chilled too long.
The most well-known dry red that is chillable wine is Beaujolais, specifically those that are labeled as Beaujolais Nouveau (famously released on the third Thursday of each year with a huge celebration and everywhere you go in restaurants and wine shops that focus on French cuisine declaring that Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Here!) or simply Beaujolais. For the former, it signifies that the grapes for the wine were grown all over the Beaujolais region, which is north of Burgundy and north of the Rhone Valley, in contrast to the more specific geographical Beaujolais Villages, or Beaujolais Cru bottles. These wines shouldn’t be chilled below cellar temperatures because they’re more symbiotic than the other wines.
There’s also an intriguing world of sparkling reds that is chilling. Lambrusco can be the best example. Cleto Chiarli is one of the most popular and dependable reds in the American market. If you want something sweeter, Brachetto d’Acqui is the option to choose. Piedmont’s sweet sparkling, floral wine is excellent with cheesecake or Thanksgiving dinner.
There are more choices than you consider for reds that are still in the bottle, and the eleven below are an excellent addition to any warm-weather table. They’re also great all year long.
2021 Alta Colina Carbonic Grenache
With fresh and enticing aromas, such as wild strawberry, blackberry graphite, and sweet tobacco, The wine is an architectural marvel with solid French oak tannins and backed by a great foundation of acidity. The wine is kept lively and fresh. Each sip is topped with dark salted chocolate and sagebrush.
2019 Bodegas Beronia Rioja Crianza
An excellent concentration and a delicious acidity boost the pomegranate seeds and cranberries to the top, rooibos tea, and the spice of root beer, All of which work well with a delightful rib dish. Don’t chill this too long; a short time in the fridge is ideal.
2021 Copain Sonoma Coast Red Wine
With the blend of Trousseau, Poulsard, and Pinot Noir, this wine can be crushed when it gets hot, and the vibrant citrus of the cranberry flavors is delightful and decadent. The dusty tannins are wrapped around the aromas of licorice root and cracked peppercorns. They provide an excellent backbone for the orange oils and the dried herbs that scrub you. A tangy cherry swoops in towards the end.
2022 Gran Moraine Gamay Noir
The winemaker Shane Moore has become one of Oregon’s most intriguing makers of sparkling wines. However, his wines are equally impressive. Each mouthwatering, silky sip from Gamay Noir is a pleasure to drink. Gamay Noir carries flavors of crushed wild fruit, blood oranges spice, and a touch of jasmine. In 2021, the Gamay Noir, on the contrary, showcases the more delicious part of the blend and is more reminiscent of Beaujolais Cru or perhaps Morgon. Both vintages are great.
2020 Kind of Wild Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
{Produced with organic grapes Made with organic grapes are all the wines of Kind of Wild (part of the Kind of Wild portfolio). The wine is bright and fresh, with cherry and blood oranges. The subtle tannic character and the vibrant acidity make it ideal to go with more smoky food items in the summertime. Prosciutto could be a good choice, along with a Hot dog. It could surprise you.
2021 Las Jaras Mariah Vineyard Pinot Noir
A lot more concentrated than the chillable reds, the single-vineyard red from The Mendocino Ridge of California is excellent straight from the cellar or after a 20-minute wait in the refrigerator. The latter will make it fresher and more bright and smoky, with subtle raspberry and bing cherries, both and a hint of earth that has been tilled. Enjoy this with a new burger right off the grill.
2020 Ricossa Barbera d’Asti
This wine acquires an enveloping texture after the chill. It adds an excellent depth to the sweet notes of plums and clove. The mineral and forest floor and pomegranate make this wine layer-able and ideal for grilled meats that can be enjoyed outside.
2021 Santa Julia Tintillo
Sometimes, a wine’s label spells it all out for you: This charming blend of whole-bunch-fermented Malbec and Bonarda instructs you to “because fresco” — drink fresh! This is good advice, as chills bring out a mashup of mixed mountain berries and cherries, but there’s a highly well-calibrated base of spices and tobacco.
2022 Souleil Vin de Bonte Le Rouge
Produced in southern France and deliciously affected by its proximity to the Mediterranean, the mixture of Grenache and Syrah is an absolute delight to sip. Delicious red cherries and cranberries are sprayed with dried herbs and a touch of peppercorn. This bottle proves that cheap summertime reds (only $16.99) do not have to be a fruit bomb and can have beautiful complexity, too.
2021 Tarpon Cellars Cambaro
In every glass of this wine, it is a dance of cranberry flavors that are dazzling with the radiance of flowers, pink peppercorns, tart cherries, and Strawberry Jolly Ranchers. The high acidity, the dirty tannins, and a vibrant minerality center anchor this unique and well-crafted wine.
2018 Virgen del Galir A Villeira As Ermitas Valdeorras
It is located in Galicia and made by the highly respected and historical CVNE. This exceptional wine is made mainly from Mencia (a little in Alicante Bouchet and Palomino in the mix) and is grown on a 2-hectare vineyard. It’s brimming with cranberries as well as red and black cherries, as well as fresh raspberries, and rhubarb. All of which is covered with oregano and thyme. It is slicked through by intense acidity and a smoky iron. A subtle floral lift can be found in a fantastic balance of minerality which rings through the luscious, linear final.