August 25, 2025 Plume Ridge Bottle Shop

Chill Out: Why Red Wine is Finally Cool

For years, red wine has carried a bit of baggage: a fireplace, a heavy steak, maybe your uncle who insists you let it “breathe” for three hours before pouring. But 2025 has flipped the script. Now red wine is officially…cool. Literally. People everywhere are tossing Pinot Noir and Gamay in the fridge, and suddenly, your summer just got a lot more interesting.

“It’s impressively trendy right now,” says Master Sommelier Grant Reynolds of Parcelle Wine Bar, who even put a “chilled red of the day” on his menu. “For our wines by the glass, it’s always our number one or number two most popular order.” Translation: move over rosé, there’s a new patio sipper in town.

Why the craze? Because chilled reds are like the unicorn of the wine world, they taste elegant and sophisticated but still go down easier than your cousin’s backyard sangria experiment. You get the structure of red wine without the heavy, sleepy side effects. Think of it as red wine putting on shorts and sunglasses.

Contributed by Blake Leland, Sommelier for Plume Ridge Bottle Shop.