Product Review: Ravi Instant Wine Chiller

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

As we come into the warmer time of year, serving temperature becomes even more of a consideration. Although it's still cold here in New England, warmer temperatures are just around the corner and some parts of the country are quite warm already.

As I've said earlier when discussing wine aerators, serving temperature is as important (if not more important) than letting wine get enough air before consumption. As a rule of thumb, red wines should be served in the mid-60s and whites should be served in the mid-40s (F). More specific serving temperature guidelines from Wine Enthusiast are available here.

As room temperature approaches 80F, red wines stored unrefrigerated will be too warm to enjoy to the fullest. What you'll notice is that the wine tastes "harsh" and the heat of alcohol tends to dominate.

The easiest way to remedy this is with your regular refrigerator and The Rule of 20: Take white wines *out* of the refrigerator 20 minutes prior to drinking and put red wines *into* the fridge for 20 minutes before drinking. Follow this rule and you'll be in the right ballpark.

If you want to dial it in a bit more, and bring wine to the perfect serving temperature instantaneously, you might be interested in this product- The Ravi Instant Wine Chiller:



Pros:

  • Easy to Use: Although there are quite a few pieces that make up the Ravi Solution, it is actually very easy to use.
  • Effective: Instantly drops the temperature of any wine by 10F-15F bringing it to a more enjoyable drinking temperature.
  • Versatile: Useful in the summer months when red wines at room temperature approach 80F (to bring them down to the mid-60s) -or- if you have a single temperature wine refrigerator set at 55F to drop the temperature down to around 45F.
Cons:
  • A little pricey: This is definitely a convenience item and similar results can be attained with a little time in the fridge. However, I've found it quite useful and I'm glad I own one.
I gave this product 5 starsbecause it works absolutely 100% as advertised. Value a consideration, I don't know if I'd pay $50 for it, but if you can catch it closer to $30/$35 I'd say it's a good value. I have really appreciated having mine on hand whenever I pull a white wine from my wine refrigerator.

If you found this review helpful, and you're interested in buying this product through Amazon, I'd appreciate it if you used my Amazon Associates link below. A small portion of your purchase will be credited to my account, and although it's not a ton of money I do find it motivating:




In case you're new to the WWP, here are links to the other wine accessories I've reviewed:
If you're a wine accessory producer and you'd like your product reviewed on the WWP, contact me here. I can't guarantee a positive review, but I will review your product thoroughly, respectfully, and authentically.

Disclosure: I received this product as a sample from the manufacturer at The Boston Wine Expo.

Question of the Day: Do you have tips and tricks on bringing wine to the optimal serving temperature? What do you think of the Ravi?

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