For the Best Taste Every Degree Counts: Ribera del Duero
- Posted on
- By Wim De Schutter

Top Sommelier Wim De Schutter demonstrated to us how a good but not really expensive wine changes in taste with every single degree: He clearly shows that there is something like the “perfect serving temperature”, and this for ALL wines, be it great volume or the top of the bill ones.
Name: Briego Crianza
Region: Ribera del Duero
Year: 2013
16°C
- Fairly closed aroma
- Many flavors of red fruit, including cherry and raspberry. Acids are clearly present. Tannin a little dehydrating. By drinking this wine at this temperature, he lacks a nice balance in flavors.
17°C
- Many scents of red and black fruit, including cherry and blackberries. Slightly spicy aroma of black pepper.
- Nice start of a lot of red fruit. Tannin clearly present. Now the tannins are nice and not so dry. It is a solid full red wine.
“This Ribera shines at 17°C. A solid full red wine.”
18°C
- Still aroma of red and black fruit. Spicy notes come more to the fore, a slight hint of chocolate.
- Wine becomes heavier, more spicy notes. Still an acceptable temperature, but the wine "now" asks for a piece of red meat or a stew.
19°C
- Many black fruits, Provençal herbs and dark chocolate in aroma.
- Temperature is still just acceptable. Tannins are very smooth.
20°C
- Sweet warm smell. Alcohol comes up.
- Flavors of cooked fruit. Now the wine is too hot for me, tiring to drink.
21°C
- The beautiful flavors of the wine partly disappear because of the alcohol, which is a shame.
22°C
- Sin of the wine, to drink this bottle at this temperature. You will miss a lot of fine flavors of this beautiful wine. Now this wine really gets a very powerful, tiring impression. This wine contains an alcohol content of 14% vol, which today is the standard for red wines.
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