Drinks expert makes a surprising revelation about how you should drink red wine

Jancis Robinson is editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine

Jancis Robinson was speaking at the Hay Festival (jancisrobinson.com)

In a defiance of convention, a leading wine expert has claimed red wine should be kept in the fridge.

Though white wine is known for being kept chilled, red wine is often thought of as best served at room temperature.

Editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, Jancis Robinson, made the claim at the Hay Festival, to the surprise of many audience members.

“Put any open bottle in the fridge. Even red wine,” Ms Robinson said, speaking on the Good Energy Stage at the Welsh literary festival.

The reason for this unconventional tactic?

“Low temperatures slow down chemical reactions including oxidation, which is the enemy of an open bottle,” she claimed. This means open bottles of wine kept in the fridge will last longer and keep their flavour more fully.

In addition, Ms Robinson said white wines shouldn’t be over-chilled and some are best served at room temperature.

She said: “It is nice to have champagne very cold, or a light-bodied Riesling.

“But once you get a full-bodied, oaked white, like a mature white burgundy, you really want it at the same temperature as a light-bodied red.”

In another surprise to many wine connoisseurs, the expert also praised the new style of “squidgier” plastic corks, found in many modern wine bottles. The synthetic corks were easier to put back into the bottle than traditional corks, Ms Robinson said.