When is Ice Nice for Wine?

Now that summer is approaching, an age-old question will invariably pop up at barbecue gatherings: “Should one add ice to wine?”

Some wine drinkers think that ice cubes in wine borders on being sacrilegious. Indeed, in biblical times (Roman Empire included) it was considered bad taste not to mix water with. They made special vessels called “kraters” specifically for this mixture purpose. And in France, many parents dilute wine for older children when introducing them to wine.

But, if you go to Spain or Italy, you'll find that many routinely add ice cubes. In Greece, it's acceptable to put ice in wine, especially Moschato, to make it less syrupy and sweet.

Even if the wine comes out of a wine fridge, if you're sitting in a 90 degree sun, it's going to heat up very quickly. The only way you give the wine a chance of staying drinkably cool until the glass is empty is adding a bit of ice. Of course, this isn't done with a $500 bottle of Chateau Latour - but you're usually not drinking that in searing heat. Usually that sort of wine is drunk in a temperature controlled room, and hopefully out of Riedel glassware.

But—as the Roman author Cicero once said (and could apply to the old ice in wine question): “To each his own.”