No one was more surprised than I to see a self-professed wine snob take a chilled red from the wine cooler, pour it in a glass and nuke it for 10 seconds. What the…? It seemed boorish, unthinkable, plebian. For a scant minute, I thought my sister had lost her street cred. Quickly, she set me straight. This is how it’s done. The only demerit to issue here might be that she didn’t confirm the microwave-safeness of the glass.

 

Let’s learn more. Red wines, as it turns out, are best served between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes (and I do mean sometimes in our group) a bottle is left unfinished and is retired to the fridge, corked. Upon reopening, you can let the wine sit for a half-hour, or zap it for 5-10 seconds. More will bring the alcohol to the top overwhelming any other gifts the wine has to bear.

 

It’s also a good time to note that in Europe, reds are often served cooler (not cold, but cooler) in the summer months. This may rock the paradigm you’ve always relied on: reds warm, whites cool. But once you start playing with reds and temperatures, you’ll quickly catch on.