Bringing a cellared wine to the correct serving temperature involves letting it sit for a few hours in a temperate room so that it will be less cold and at a better temperature for its qualities to be appreciated. This should be done only with red wines. However, the ideal drinking temperature varies according to the variety:

• 13° to 14° C for red Burgundies and Côtes du Rhone
• 15 to 16° C for red Bordeaux and Touraine wines.

White wines, on the other hand, should be served cool:

• about 10° C for dry whites,
• 5° for sweet whites

Champagne and other sparkling wines should be served very cold. Keep the bottle in a champagne bucket filled with water and ice to prevent the wine from warming up before it is all served. To cool a bottle, place it in the refrigerator. The temperature will go down about 2° C every ten minutes. In the freezer, the temperature goes down twice as quickly. Be careful not to forget about the bottle so that it doesn't explode! Or else place the bottle in a champagne bucket filled with ice and water to which salt has been added, and it will chill very rapidly.