How to Chill a Bottle of Wine Quickly

Forgot to refrigerate the wine before dinner? No sweat. Here's a simple and fast solution.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ice Buckets

1. Fill a bucket with ice and cold water.

2. Submerge the bottle up to its neck in the bucket.

3. Remove after 20 minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Many people put wine in the freezer to chill it quickly. Although this works, it can be tough on more delicate wines.
• It takes 2 hours to chill a bottle in the refrigerator and a bit more than 1 hour in ice alone.
• White wines, champagnes and rosé wines (which have a pink color) are commonly served chilled. Red wines are served at room temperature, although if it's hot out, you might chill the wine in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes, then leave it on the counter for 10 minutes to warm up.

Who Can Help Sponsored

• How to Lose 30+lbs Guaranteed. Try it Free.

[flyer1k]

on 10/29/2008 more effective on the chilling is to ensure you are rolling the bottle in the ice. It is a simple matter of thermodynamics - hot and cold will balance each other out. If you are just leaving the bottle sit - there is an equilibrium established on the wine closest to the ice. By rolling the bottle, you continually upset the equilibrium and move warm liquid to the cold ice. You will be able to chill a room temperature bottle to < 40 degrees in less than 100 turns of the bottle. (coming from a chemist who tested this hypotheses many many times)

[hammy1]

on 5/28/2008 Wrape the bottle in a wet tea towel and put it in the freezer for 15 mins

[G-Ro]

on 5/19/2008 I saw the salt thong on Myth Busters, it totally works. But do wipe the bottle. Bleah.

[G-Ro]

on 5/19/2008 I saw the salt thing on Myth Busters, it works! Doesn't have to be kosher, but do wipe the bottle(s). Bleah.

on 11/22/2005 Crush some ice, put it in a bucket, and pack it around the wine bottle. Then sprinkle it with a lot of salt. (Best - 23% salt by weight, 77% ice by weight). This will bring down the melting point of the ice and you can get below 32F very quickly. This is probably the quickest way to chill beer(5 minutes).