Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Don’t make this super common mistake when chilling wine in an ice bucket

Chill your wine easily without the need for any expensive equipment.

Lindsay Parrill
By
Champagne bucket
Roberto Vivancos/Pexels

When it comes to chilling wine, there are countless ways to get the job done. The market is saturated with products made specifically for cooling wine down to the perfect drinking temperature, from luxurious wine refrigerators to elegant marble wine chillers. We can almost guarantee that the passionate wine lover in your life probably has a pantry full of these fancy contraptions, each one more exciting (and expensive) than the last. After all, wine is an art and enjoying it at the correct temperature is an absolute must. At the end of the day, though, even with all the bells and whistles, it’s hard to beat a good old-fashioned ice bath – especially when trying to cool down that wine in a hurry. But, as simple as this wine-chilling technique may be, it is possible to get it wrong. That’s why we’ve collected a few tips and tricks for getting that wine chilled exactly right every time.

Order matters when chilling wine

Rose wine in ice bucket

While the more aesthetically pleasing option may be to fill your favorite wine chilling bucket with ice and simply nestle in your favorite bottle or two, this method is actually pretty ineffective when it comes to chilling wine in a pinch. By dumping ice into a container and plopping the wine on top, only the bottom half of the bottle will actually chill. It’s important to fully cover your wine (or other beverage) bottles with ice so that the entire bottle has a chance to actually get cold. Do this by putting your bottle(s) in the bucket first, and then topping with ice – not the other way around. The more the bottle is covered with ice, the better. While this might not get you the sexiest photo shoot of your wine luxuriously resting in an ice bath, it’s the better way to get the contents cold.

Recommended Videos

Use water and…salt?

Beer in ice bucket
Mo Visual/Pexels

If you find yourself in a situation where you need to get your wine chilled immediately, water is your best friend. Once you’ve covered your bottles with ice, pour cold water inside the bucket, filling it to the rim. The ice water will amplify the chilling process by increasing the surface area that comes in contact with your bottles. Simply cover your bottles with ice, top off the bucket with water, stir to get everything circulating, and your favorite bottle should be perfectly chilled and ready to drink in just minutes.

Related

If you’re really in a rush and feeling particularly scientific in your wine chilling methods, reach for your salt shaker (not really—you should never, ever use a salt shaker and use only Kosher salt, please) and add a few shakes to your chilly ice bath. Salt reduces the freezing point of water, making it colder faster, which means you can pop that bottle and enjoy it at the perfect temperature in no time at all.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay Parrill
Contributor
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
Don’t ruin your skincare routine by eating these 15 foods
For healthier skin, consume these foods in moderation
A hamburger on a wooden table

When it comes to grooming, it’s easy to get hyper-focused on topical products that promise to fix every patch of dry skin, nix any fine lines, and make facial hair grow just the way we like it. What if we told you that outward appearance starts on the inside? More specifically, it begins with the food you consume. Though research on diet and skincare is still emerging, there are some studies and research that suggest certain types of food are bad for skin health. For example, we don’t have a definitive answer to the question, "Is acne caused by food?" However, science shows consuming some items can exacerbate the condition. 

Knowledge is power. When it comes to foods and skincare, understanding the current research can help you make informed choices at the grocery store and when you peer into your pantry.  These are some of the worst foods for skin health, according to experts and research.

Read more
Dry farm wines: Organic, sugar-free wines you won’t feel guilty about
Are dry farm wines too good to be true?
Hands toasting with red wine

If you love to drink wine but seek a cleaner, healthier option, dry farm wines might be right for you. This sugar-free, organic, and additive-free wine may sound too good to be true -- yet it exists. Dry, warm wines have identified the major problems within today's wine industry and sought to create a wine that is both delicious and guilt-free. Plus, they even offer a wine subscription membership so you can keep the natural wine flowing! Let's dive in and explore what this new "healthy" wine is all about.

Problems with the wine industry
The wine shelves at your local wine store might be full of different enticing labels and unique packaging, yet the majority of these brands contain significant levels of pesticides. Only 5% of all vineyards in the world are organically farmed, leaving the vast majority of consumer wines with harmful pesticides that most drinkers aren't even aware of. Grapes are consistently part of the "dirty dozen," an annual list by the Environmental Working Group that notes the produce that contains the highest level of pesticides. These pesticides used on grapes often include fungicides and insecticides, which ultimately end up in our delicious wine.

Read more
4 things we love about Jack Daniel’s new whiskey (and 1 we don’t)
Another reason to love Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's

When it comes to Tennessee whiskey (and American whiskey, in general), there are few names bigger than Jack Daniel’s. The classic Old No. 7 with its sour mash recipe is an American institution. There’s a reason it’s a staple of every home bar and bar cart from Tullahoma to Tacoma. It’s sweet, complex, and always reasonably inexpensive. It’s a perfect whiskey and one that doesn’t need an upgrade. Or does it?

If you think Old No.7 could do for a bit of a makeover, you’re in luck. Fear not -- the brand isn’t changing the classic recipe or anything. It’s simply releasing a new addition to its popular Distillery Series.

Read more