What Temperature to Serve Your Wine

Reds at room temperature and whites ice cold, right?
NO!
Most reds are served way too warm and many whites are served so cold that you can barely taste them. I even encounter this problem in restaurants - fine dining restaurants.
Here are some good guidelines from Wine Spectator with some personal commentary added from yours truly.

• Light dry white wines and sparkling wines: Serve at 40° to 50° F to preserve their freshness and fruitiness. Think crisp Pinot Grigio and Champagne. For sparklers, chilling keeps bubbles fine rather than frothy. This is also a good range for white dessert wines; sweetness is accentuated at warmer temperatures, so chilling them preserves their balance without quashing their vibrant aromas.

Wine Spectator includes Rose's in this group, but I disagree. I would include Rose' in the following category:

• Full-bodied white wines AND ROSE:  Serve at 50° to 60° F to pick up more of the complexity and aromatics of a rich Chardonnay. Rose's are almost always made from red grapes, so the warmer temperature, while not warm by any means, brings out the nuances and complexities of the grapes used in the Rose'
• Full-bodied red wines and Ports: Serve at 60° to 65° F—cooler than most room temperatures and warmer than ideal cellaring temperatures—to make the tannins in powerful Cabernet or Syrah feel more supple and de-emphasize bitter components. I prefer my Ports and Pinot Noir cooler than my bigger reds, but no red should be served at room temperature, which is usually around 72°.

This is all easy to manage at home, but if you end up with a red that's too warm or a white that's too cold at a restaurant, just ask them if they can warm or chill as appropriate. I do it all the time.

Have a great weekend!

Tom