Ice, Ice Baby
Ice, Ice Baby
Vintners in France, Australia, and Argentina encourage cubes in the glass
Committing the occasional wine faux is liberating. Maybe you’ve sipped syrah from Styrofoam or served a corked chardonnay, just to see if your guests would notice. Naughty.
Now, three wineries want you to serve their wine over ice cubes. Argentina’s Bodega Valentin Bianchi offers the screw-capped New Age White, a refreshing blend of malvasia and sauvignon blanc that’s made to drink diluted with ice — and a lime twist. The result is fruity, mildly effervescent, and tastes like those $10 wine cocktails.
France’s answer to these ice wines (get it?!) is Moet & Chandon’s Ice Imperial Champagne, which comes in a party pack with plastic glasses. The Champagne is still a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier, but it’s slightly sweeter than most bruts, so it too benefits from a couple of cubes.
Engineered sugar content aside, you really have to be in the right place to enjoy these wines. And that place could be Southeast Asia, where the equator is so close people drink their beer on ice. That’s the test market for Rosemount O, a crisp, fizzy muscat gordo from Australia that’s 6.5 percent alcohol. Cold, and low in calories to boot.
Would you pour wine over ice? Share your reasons below.
Tags: Serving wine, Wine over ice
