The best
way to chill a bottle of wine is in an ice bucket or something
that can act as an ice bucket. Fill a bucket 2/3 full with
a mixture of half ice and half water. Be sure to add the
water since ice alone will not chill the wine as quickly.
Put a bottle in the solution and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes.
Add rock salt to the ice and water to chill the wine a bit more
rapidly. Using ice without water will take more than an hour to
chill properly. Use the water.
Another way to chill your wine is to put it in a refrigerator.
Expect to leave the wine in the refrigerator for at least two
hours in order to completely chill it.
Never
put wine in a freezer. You expect that you will check the bottle
often to keep it from freezing. You will probably check for the
first bottle or two or even three but eventually you will have
a mostly frozen, broken bottle mess in your freezer. And even
if you do keep the focus and manage to chill a bottle with the
freezer method, it will still take longer than using ice and water.
Wines that are too cold will exhibit less pronounced bouquet and
flavors. These will become more evident as the wine warms.
