If you are drinking red wine today, you should probably put it in the fridge for at least 45 minutes first — not because we are in the middle of summer, but because most red wines are drunk too warm all year.

The old rule that red wines should be served at room temperature is one of the most treacherous pieces of wine lore, unless you happen to like your rooms at a penitential 16C-18C. A few big, young, tannic reds, especially those designed to be aged, may taste rounder and more supple at 18C-20C, but the vast majority begin to lose their freshness and clarity of flavour at these temperatures. They will still be drinkable, but not as good as they could be or as the producer intended.

Beaujolais has always been appreciated lightly chilled, but most new-world red wines at less than £7 can be served in the same way — and many will be all the better for it — simply because they are made in a soft, fruity, more or less tannin-free style. And almost any pinot noir, whether £6 or £20, is delicious cool.

Bottle, fridge, now.

Cellar notes

2006 Asda Extra Special Beaujolais Villages, £4.48 Textbook Beaujolais — soft, juicy, peppery, strawberry fruit (Asda).

2007 Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir, £5.99 Great-value Chilean pinot, with sweet fruit and soft oak (Sainsbury’s).

2006 Maven Marlborough Pinot Noir, £9.19 Stylish NZ pinot, with wild strawberry aroma and supple texture (selected Tesco).

Wine bluff: “Most red-wine grapes have white flesh”

Anorak fact: the wines get their colour from the grape skins during the fermentation process

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