Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz, where things are about to get a little… chilly!
Standard disclaimer: based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps like you, I supply the quiz question each week, but I do *not* supply the quiz answer immediately. YOU supply your best guess for the answer in the comments, and then tune back in later today in the comments section for the official answer.
Chilaxin’: Pick the fastest wine chilling combo from the items below.
- A. Ice
- B. Ice + Water
- C. Ice + Water + Salt
Cheers, and good luck!
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Comments
martindredmond
C
1WineDude
Thanks, Martin!
masi3v
You mean it's not the Corkcicle?
1WineDude
masi3v – HA! I still have a sample of that thing, but honestly I am kind of afraid to try it out…
David Gillette
The salt water lowers the equilibrium temperature between the ice and water. Lower temperature means faster cooling. So the answer is C
1WineDude
Thanks, David! You're gettin' all scientific and stuff on us… ;-)
Brian Weber
salt + water + ice. the water eliminates air pockets and increases the amount of surface area that can cool the wine bottle. the salt allows the freezing point of the water to drop below normal (32 F), so the water can be liquid but still essentially as cold as the ice around it.
1WineDude
Thanks, Brian!
Jason Phelps
C, did this back in college with kegs and fat bros thought I was nuts!
J
Jason Phelps
that would be frat brothers of course. love the auto-correct!
1WineDude
Jason – resourceful!
Michael Wade
I've always heard about the salt trick but never tried it….probably because every time I need a bottle chilled quickly it probably means I'm standing in a field somewhere unplanned with neither salt, ice or a corkscrew. Your next question should be, "You are in a field with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew. Underneath the seat of your pickup truck you find a hammer and some old nails. How do you get to the wine to enjoy?"
1WineDude
Michael – Damn, we could do an entire series on those fictitious situations alone. “You are on the International Space Station; there is no gravity but there is a nice Graves, however you have no wine glasses…” ;-)
Michael Wade
Ha ha! Good stuff, Joe. BTW, since we are talking about space stations, I just saw a movie last week about a space station that I had never heard of. It started around midnight when I should have been going to bed but it had Dennis Quaid in it, who I have been a fan of since seeing "Breaking Away" at a drive-in when I was 8. Anyway, the movie was very cool so it was worth waking up tired for work. haha Its called "Pandorum." I highly recommend it for a night when you are home chilling with a bottle. Plus, Kung Lee made a cameo in it. (He's a MMA star…not sure if you follow that stuff but you will definitely admire the guy for what he can do)
1WineDude
Michael – thanks, been meaning to rent that flik!
1WineDude
Ok, time for "the reveal" as they say in the world of suspense thrillers…
Wine Quiz Answer: C. Ice + Water + Salt
Those who picked C know their science!
Ice alone is a relatively slow way to chill a wine down to serving temperature, but will certainly do in a pinch. More effective is to increase the surface area of the cooling agent (in this case the ice) by adding water to the ice bucket. Better still is to reduce the melting temperature of the ice, which you can do by adding a bit of salt tot he mix; this will keep the ice & water mixture (and by extension your wine bottle!) cooler longer, and should speed up the cooling a bit since the mixture won't heat up as quickly when the bottle is placed inside of it (typically you can get from warm to drinkable in around 10 minutes this way).
Cheers!
Clint
I learn something new every day! Going to try that tonight with the ice bucket and a Sonoma chard.
1WineDude
Clint – it will serve you well. Cheers!
Eric murphy
C: water+ice+salt
1WineDude
Eric – Correct, but late!
Dusty
We always add salt to our coolers when we go camping or tailgate before a game. I guess this is to get that nasty cheap beer really cold so we can drink it but I never thought to use it to chill wine faster.
1WineDude
Dusty – I never thought to do it for beer, but I should…