Want your red wine to taste its best in hot weather? Pop it into the fridge

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Here¿s a look at some of our favorite ruby reds, and what to serve with them: (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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A deep ruby in color, the 2010 Selvapiana Chianti tastes of bright cherries and plums, but a touch of earth gives it some weight. A great everyday Chianti to serve with pasta dishes, grilled meats and roast chicken. About $15 to $20 (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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The taste is cool fruit, earth, bruised blackberries and that indefinable wild quality that makes Syrah from this part of the Rhone pure magic. Drink it now with butterflied leg of lamb, beef daube with black olives or a thick, well-marbled steak on the grill. About $19 (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Ruby red, the Shiraz-Viognier is ripe and round, full in the mouth, tasting of red berries, sweet spice and black pepper. And it’s priced low enough to make it your house wine. Bring it out for a burger bash, a casual barbecue, pizza or a plate of spaghetti. About $14 (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Montebruna is a young, easygoing Barbera with bright, pure fruit, round and soft on the palate, and just enough tannins to give it some grip. The 2011 Montebruna is almost violet in color. Goes with salumi, grilled sausages, pork chops, pasta dishes, and cheese. Price: $20 to $25 (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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Instead of the big bruiser Zins that have dominated the market for so long, this Sonoma County Zinfandel is cool and focused, with very pretty fruit and the tanginess of pomegranates. Plays nicely with anything rich and fatty, such as salumi, grilled sausages and pork stews. Price: $25 to $30 (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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‘Le Cupole’ is unmistakably Tuscan: intense and concentrated, with a seductive tonal palate. Pair it with barbecue. Price: $29 to $37 (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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This French red is soft and unctuous, tasting of prunes and dried cherries, a voluptuous cru Beaujolais made with painstaking care. It’s beautiful with grilled sausages, stews, a simple roast chicken or duck. Price: $32 to $39 (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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This French Syrah is redolent of spice and blackberries, smoke and something brambly and wild. Rich and full-bodied, it pairs well with grilled meats, daubes and stews. Price: $20 to $23 (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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The California Zin has deep blackberry and bramble flavors, ripe tannins and a velvety mouth feel. Open a bottle to enjoy with that braised or roasted beef, venison or a hearty stew. Price: About $17 to $20 (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)

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Barbera doesn’t get much better than this: lush and velvety, with polished tannins and a rich perfume of dark plums and cherries. Its lively acidity pairs beautifully with fatty foods such as lentils with heavily marbled cotechino sausage, Salumi, sausages, braised meats and roasts. Price: About $20 (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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This alluring Pinot Noir is dark and sweet, with a perfume of wild strawberries and black cherries. It’s a wonderful match with bold flavors -- roast duck, pork vindaloo or Hungarian goulash. Price: $30 to $40 (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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This fresh, fruity red is a great bottle to have on hand when friends drop by unexpectedly. Serve slightly chilled with salumi, antipasti, pasta, pizza, grilled meats and even fish. Price: About $15 (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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This Italian is a gorgeous ruby red, soft and silky in texture, intense and so fresh with flavors of cherries, blueberries, mint and spice. It shines with hearty pasta dishes, vegetarian dishes, pizza and grilled meats too. Price: About $22 (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Give this terrific Spanish Rioja some time in the glass for all its layers to show themselves: dark cherries, licorice, leather and earth. Drink it with a chorizo-laden paella, with grilled meats, roast lamb or pork. Price: $25 to $31 (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

By S. Irene Virbila

July 8, 2013 9 AM PT

In weather like this and pretty much all summer, red wine benefits from a slight chill before serving. If your house is warm and your bottle of wine is room temperature, it probably should be chilled down in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so before serving.

Why? Red wines fall apart and don’t taste like themselves when they’re too warm.

Don’t believe me? Try this experiment. Pour out a glass of red. Re-cork the bottle and chill it down in an ice bucket or the refrigerator - not as cold as white wine, obviously, but just a few degrees cooler than room temperature. Now pour out a glass of the chilled wine and compare the two.

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The warmer wine will probably taste more alcoholic and flabby in structure. The cooler red will be more pulled together, the alcohol subdued, the flavors miraculously zoomed into focus.

And no, you don’t have to go out and buy a wine thermometer. Just use your good judgment. And when in doubt, taste.

At restaurants, don’t be afraid to ask for your server to chill down a bottle of red that seems too warm. It happens a lot. When the waiter or sommelier brings the bottle over to the table, if it’s not slightly cool to the touch, ask for the bottle to be put on ice for a few minutes. And by ice, I mean an ice bucket filled with ice and water, with the bottle submerged to the shoulders.

If you don’t want to sit there without anything to drink while the bottle is cooling, ask for a short pour before the waiter makes off with the bottle. Nurse it along and try to keep track of how long the wine has been chilling: sometimes the waiter forgets about it. You don’t want your wine icy. But even if that happens, it won’t take long to warm up again.

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Twitter: @sirenevirbila