Need a glass of wine, stat, but don't have the time or patience to wait for a bottle of Chardonnay to chill in your fridge? Luckily, you don't have to! Here are five ways to chill a bottle of vino in 20 minutes or less.
- Just add salt: You probably already know that putting wine in a bucket of ice and cold water, rather than just ice, will chill your vino faster. But did you know that adding salt to the mix further speeds up the cooling time? Salt reduces the freezing point of water and allows it to become colder without turning into ice, which in turn chills your wine more quickly.
- Give it a spin: If even the water/ice/salt method isn't chilling your Sauv Blanc fast enough, keep the bucket nearby and gently spin the wine bottle in the ice water every couple minutes. Spinning the bottle moves around the contents inside, allowing more wine to come into contact with the cold glass, and chilling it faster. Keep in mind that this method works best for nonsparkling wines; try this with a bottle of Champagne and you're in for a shock when you pop open the bottle!
- Wet it down: Putting wine in the freezer will chill it relatively quickly, but to speed up the process, wet a clean dish towel and wrap it around the wine bottle before you pop it in. The dampness conducts and holds in cold better, and having the icy cold towel pressed against the bottle ensures that the entire surface of the bottle is being chilled.
- Drop it in: To chill individual servings of wine, give these clever wine glasses [1] ($20 for two) a whirl.
- Decant and chill: Smaller amounts of liquid chill faster, so if you're in a jam, pour your wine into individual glasses first, then place those in the fridge or freezer. Just make sure to keep them on a level surface so you don't end up with a chilled mess on your hands!
