Five ways to chill wine fast when you're short on time

If you're anything like me, you've probably had this happen to you; you're short on time, the guests have arrived early, and your bubbly is still in a brown bag. 

Here are five ways to chill that bottle fast:

1.  Toss it in the freezer for 20 minutes 

Pro's

This is a fast and easy way to chill your bottle and almost everyone has a freezer!

Con's

Forgetting about your bottle can result in frozen wine... which is fine if you like froze, but not so great if you don't like shattered pieces of glass in your wine. 

Freezer's don't tend to be portable, so while this method works fine at home, it's not very practical for picnic's on the beach, poolside, or as a hostess gift.

2.  Pack your kitchen sink with ice and plunge the bottle in 

Pro's

This method works great for chilling wine fast ...

Con's

This method works great if you have more than one sink, or if you're partying in a hotel room, but not so great if you're hosting a dinner party.  It's almost impossible to host guests without access to your kitchen sink. 

3.  Chill wine in the glass with pretty ice cubes

Pro's

Pretty ice cubes add a gorgeous decorative touch and can chill a glass of wine relatively quickly.

Con's

Where to start?  First, no one likes watered down wine with floaties.

Secondly, you need to have the flower petal/herb/fruit cubes ready and on hand... and if they've been in the freezer too long, they're bound to be smelly.

4.  A slight variation on number 3; throw some reusable cubes into the glass

Pro's

It's easy to have these on hand in your freezer.  The cube doesn't melt and water down your bubbly.

Con's

They look tacky and smell funny.  

5.  Use the Bevefresco chilling bag with ice and salt to chill that bottle to perfection

Pro's

Perfectly chilled champagne

Lightweight, compact, easy to store and transport, oh, and it's and reusable.

Con's

You need to have ice on hand.

How to chill wine using your Bevefresco Chilling Bag

Place your bottle in the bag and fill two thirds full with ice and salted cold water (about 1/4 cup of salt).  If you don't have salt on hand, the ice/water combination works almost as well, however, adding the salt acts to lower the freezing point of the water and speeds up the chilling process.  Rotating the bottle in the bag will also help to speed up the chilling process. 

Enjoy!

xo

Gia