] enoavidh wrote: ] ] > Oh, for pete's sake.
Succinctly put!
[] ] 1. The people who developed the guidelines for wine serving temperature ] were certainly not putting a thermometer inside the bottle to figure out ] what temperature the wine was at; they were just using general ] temperature figures: room temp (~65 F), cellar temp (~50 F), chilled ] (~35 F). Anything more precise is overkill. ] ] 2. It isn't exactly rocket science to figure out if a bottle is warm, ] cool or cold by simply touching it. ]
This business of the "correct" temperature is vastly over-rated, anyway. The point is to experience maximum pleasure from the drink; which for most true sybarites involves more gusto and less analysis. Enjoy already, and quit kvetching.
] 3. The temperature on the outside of the bottle may or may not reflect ] the temperature of the wine. Unfortunately, the extent of difference is ] governed by a partial differential equation (the heat or diffusion ] equation) that depends on the initial temp of the wine, the temp of the ] surroundings, the size of the bottle and the heat capacity of all the ] materials -- in practical terms, it's best not to even attempt to solve ] this. ]
Are you implying, sir, that the whole problem is caused by the French? Not only do they perfect (one might argue) the art of wine making, they go ahead and come up with the analytical theory of heat (diffusion)? :) And insist on 50 C cellars??
Actually Fourier's book is surprisingly accessible to the layman. It was included in the "Great Books" series that my folks had, and I was able to take a reasonable whack at it in high school with only basic calculus. He has a very physical and geometrical approach to the whole problem. I confess I had an easier time of it in real analysis, but the book does convey some of the beauty of boundary value pde's without insisting on more arcane variational techniques.
Totally useless when it comes to the thoroughly tactile decision of "is it warm/cold enough?"
] The bottom line: feel the bottle. If it's a full-bodied red, it should ] be slightly cool to the touch; if it's a big white or lighter red it ] should be quite cool; if it's a lighter white it should be cold but not ] ice cold. No need for any thermometer IMO. ]
Some one gave me one once. I've never used it.
] HTH ;-) ] Mark Lipton ] ] p.s. Why is it that whenever people want to post "anonymously" to ] Usenet, they use Google groups, who dutifully put the poster's IP ] address in the headers? Is there some website giving bogus instructions ] on how to spam Usenet or something??
Why do tennis players wear white shorts?
Oh well. Adele's on the road, I might as well go and finish the bottle! :)
-E