It’s a warm, balmy evening in Paris and you’re strolling along the Place de la Bastille when you pass a bistro and hear someone order un vin rouge frais. “Frais” could mean either chilled or fresh, but when it comes to wine—and reds in particular—this French double meaning is so apt because cool and fresh go hand in hand. In the context of this order, it almost certainly means both!
     Too many glasses of red wine are consumed at room temperature—too warm! Unchilled wines bring to mind a vase of wilting flowers, or a beautiful instrument that hasn’t been properly tuned. To liven up a wine and coax out its most alluring flavors and aromas, it always helps to stick it in the fridge or an ice bucket before serving. Doing so, for example, will heighten the floral qualities of a Cabernet Franc like the Bretons’ “Avis de Vin Fort,” while also making its bright fruit notes taste even more refreshing and vivid. And while we often associate chilling reds with bottles that are quaffable and low-tannin, this practice works its magic on bigger wines, too, like Gros ’Noré’s Bandol or the Île de Beauté from Yves Leccia, in which a chill brings its fruit and succulence to the fore.
     The wines below represent an ideal assortment for discovering the many ways cooling down can change—and improve—your favorite bottles. So the next time you’re packing your cooler on your way to a picnic, or filling an ice bucket for a backyard barbecue, add a bottle or two from this sampler. By the time you’re ready to pop the cork and pair it with whatever tasty fare you or your companions have prepared, it will be perfectly in tune and ready to refresh.

Click here for Chef Georgeanne Brennan’s Salade du Marché recipe.