When you buy something through our link, we may earn a small commission from our affiliate partners. Wine Enthusiast maintains complete editorial independence and all wines are blind tasted. Read more about our policy.
Let’s get this out of the way: There’s no magic way to chill your wine to proper serving temperature in a matter of minutes.
With that said, if you forgot to put a bottle in the fridge before guests arrive, there are legitimate ways to increase the rate at which wine cools down. After endless hours of testing and examination, here are what rendered the best overall results.
Ice and saltwater in a bucket
This is the best and safest solution to chill your wine fast. Place your bottle(s) in a metal bucket, or even a large stockpot. Leave some space between bottles if you want to cool down multiple wines.
Fill the bucket with ice until it’s about half way up the bottles. Next, add four tablespoons of salt to one gallon of water, stir and pour the mixture up to the bottlenecks, but don’t fully submerge the bottles. Salt lowers the freezing point of water, which can save precious time in getting those white wines chilled down to proper serving temps.
*Additional Tip: Give it a stir. The more the ice water circulates, the quicker that wine will chill.
Wrap it and freeze it
Popping a bottle in the freezer is the way many wine drinkers chill a bottle down fast, mostly because it works. However, there’s a way to speed this process up.
Grab a few paper towels or cheesecloth and run them under cold water. Wrap the wet towels around your bottle before you place it in the freezer. It will reduce the time it takes to chill the wine.
Just be sure to tell Alexa to set a timer for 15 minutes. If you forget and leave the bottle in for too long, you could come back to a bottle with a cork popped out or possibly broken, and certainly one messy freezer.
On the rocks
A by-the-glass solution is arctic rocks, or granite chilling stones. Just pull a few out of your freezer and drop them carefully into your glass. They’ll take the wine temperature down in one minute or less. They also won’t dilute your wine like ice would, or potentially impart outside flavors like the frozen grape method. Once the wine is at your desired temperature, remove the rocks with a spoon. Then, enjoy a perfectly chilled glass of your favorite pour.
More Wine Serving Tips
- How long should you let your wine breathe? Marshall Tilden III has the answers.
- Should you decant Champagne? It depends.
- Stemless wine glasses have become a trendy staple. But are they any good?
- What should you do with all your open wine bottles? Here’s a practical guide to understanding how long specific wines last—and how to extend the life of a bottle.
- Are expensive wine glasses worth it? Aaron Britt dives into the question.
- Here’s when you should double decant—and when you absolutely shouldn’t.
Published: November 26, 2019
