What’s the best way to cool wine? Are ice buckets better than ice cubes?

Ice buckets, provided you use a mix of water and ice cubes, offer a very efficient way to bring down the temperature of rosé and white wines quickly. Ice cubes by themselves don’t work nearly as well.

Buckets do have several disadvantages though. Your wine will very quickly become freezing cold, and you won’t be able to taste a thing. Removing the bottle from the bucket requires a cloth to stop water spilling on the table. Sommeliers in fancy restaurants love doing this for you as part of their show. At one stage every restaurant had a collection of ice buckets, but with the advent of wine fridges, they have become less common. I find them less practical at home. I had a very smart Murano glass ice bucket for at least 10 years, but never used it for the intended purpose.

A fridge is a far easier and more reliable way to chill wine. It takes a few hours but the wine will stay cool for enough time to allow you drink it. Alternatively, if the weather is cold, you can just leave your wine outside the back door or on your balcony overnight. The quickest option is the freezer, but don’t forget to take it out; wine will expand when frozen and bottles will crack. Use a timer – it will take around 20-30 minutes.

Other than an ice bucket, the quickest way to chill a bottle of wine is to wrap it in a damp tea towel or newspaper (an old Irish Times, perhaps?) and put it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes or a little more. If you are worried your wine might warm up on the table, you could buy a stainless steel sleeve or a clay cooler, but I don’t find these necessary.

Remember that sparkling wines, crisp dry wines and rosé should be served coldest – about 5-10 degrees, and richer white wines at about 12 degrees. Light red wines should be served cool – about 15 degrees.