Most soups are meant to be served hot. Cold chicken soup is not nearly as tasty as when it’s heated up. Then there are other foods meant to be served cold. Would that avocado toast taste as good after a minute in the microwave? Probably not.

The same principle goes for wine, which is meant to be served at least slightly chilled. A rosé or white wine at room temperature or warmer feels flat and flabby, lacks the taste of fruit and certainly won’t be as refreshing as it would be when served cold. Most people don’t think of red wines as needing to be chilled, but they too can become listless when served at too high a temperature.

Why Temperature Matters. Truth be told, all red wines benefit from being chilled to cellar temperature, about 55 degrees fahrenheit. When served too warm, red wine becomes heavy and clumsy on the palate with an overly increased sensation of alcohol.

Certain reds truly shine when cooled down even lower than cellar temperature, with a quick 30-minutes in the fridge, or 10 to 15 minutes on ice. Fruity reds with low tannins and light to medium body, such as Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Dolcetto and Garnacha, to name a few, perk up when they are chilled. Oftentimes wine producers purposefully age these red wines in stainless steel or concrete, rather than wooden barrels which would impart structure.

In this case, they are looking to make wines meant to be drunk young, within a few years of harvest. Served cooled down (but not ice-cold), these reds are just as satisfying on a hot summer night as chilled white, rosé, and sparkling wines are.

The French have their own word for this type of refreshing wine: glou glou.

“Glou glou comes from the sound in your throat when you drink something,” says Geoffroy Scheid, Fine Wine Consultant at International Wine & Spirits. “It means a wine that is easy going, not too complicated, but good.”

**Here are six chillable, glou glou reds to get your summer off to the right start.**

***In the vineyards with Mathieu Vallée of Château Yvonne.***

Château Yvonne Saumur-Champigny La Folie 2021. The wines of Saumur-Champigny, from the central Loire Valley, are predominantly made from Cabernet Franc, and are typically lighter in style, with fresh acidity and spicy flavors of red berries and herbs. Chateau Yvonne’s La Folie is a stunning example of how amazing Loire Valley Cabernet Franc can be: fresh and tangy with subtle notes of dark cherry, blackberry, thyme and mint. When chilled, this wine is perfect for summer barbecues, paired with herb-marinated chicken, smoky ribs and cole slaw.

Cantina Tramin Kellerei Pinot Nero Alto Adige 2020. Cantina Tramin is an historic, cooperative winery consisting of 165 families who have been carefully tending vines for generations.

The vineyards are set at the foothills of the Dolomite mountains, where the warm days and cool nights contribute to delicious wines of great liveliness. Cantina Tramin’s Kellerei Pinot Nero (Italian for Pinot Noir) is made from grapevines that are planted in calcareous clay and gravel soils at an altitude of 350 to 450 meters (1150 to 1475 feet).

Juicy and fragrant, the wine is like a fruit salad of blackberries, plums, raspberries and cherries. With its velvety soft texture, fresh acidity, fine-grained tannins and hint of floral notes, this wine goes perfectly with the foods of summer: fresh veggies, light cheeses, charcuterie and grilled meats.

Troon Vineyard Grenache Glou Gou 2021. I can’t say enough good things about Troon Vineyards. Located in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley, the winery crafts elegant, balanced wines in a strictly environmentally-friendly way. Not only is the winery Demeter-certified biodynamic, it is the second winery in the world (after Tablas Creek, another favorite) to become Regenerative Organic Certified, a new verification granted farmers who meet meet the highest standards for soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness.

Yet this serious and thoughtful winery doesn’t take itself too seriously, starting with the colorful and lively wine labels. Troon’s Grenache Glou Glou (with its fun, French-inspired name) is a gorgeous wine—fresh and fruity, but with an iron-like ferrous, earthy quality. Even the color is beautiful, deep red with a purplish iridescence. Lively and tart on the palate with bright salinity, this wine goes down easily, even straight out of the fridge. It made a great match with breaded chicken cutlets, salad and cornbread but has enough tannic structure to pair well with grilled meats with a spicy barbecue sauce.

More coming soon about their delightful Kubli Bench Rosé and Kubli Bench Amber wine, two other knock-out wines from Troon Vineyards.

Cantina Furlani Trentino Vino Rosso20 2020. I discovered this wine at Miami Beach’s fabulous Macchialina restaurant, where, after one sip of this acid-driven, fruit-forward, hot weather sipper, there was no looking back.

Matteo Furlani is fourth generation winemaker on his family’s small, biodynamically farmed plot in Trentino, Italy. Rosso20 is a blend of several native grapes: Pavana della Valsugana, Negrara, Marzemino, Teroldego and Lagrein that are fermented in steel tanks. No filtration, no added yeast and no chemical products are used in the winemaking process.

Medium to light-bodied, with gentle tannins; fresh, fruity and saline with notes of cherry, cranberry, violet and earth. Great with pasta à la Pomodoro.

Domaine Thillardon Chénas Les Carrières Beaujolais Cru 2020. Chénas is one of ten Beaujolais crus representing the region's very best vineyard land. This small, family-owned, organically-farmed winery makes fine wines with focus and purity. Les Carrières comes from a rocky part of the Chénas cru with flinty soils. Full of wild cherry and other red berry fruit notes, this feather-light red is an irresistible summer refresher that goes well with everything from sushi to grilled pork.

Tenuta Scerscé, Rosso Di Valtellina Nettare 2019. Valtellina is the northernmost wine region of Lombardy, Italy, just to the east of Piedmont. This Rosso di Valtellina is 100% Nebbiolo, locally called Chiavennasca; lighter and less tannic than its counterpart in Piedmont. "Nettare" is organically farmed, and fermented and aged in stainless steel and cement tanks.

Ruby red color with notes of cherry, cranberry, leather, clove, rose and a hint of tobacco, this nuanced wine has abundant freshness. Pairs well with a variety of foods: appetizers, pasta, oily fish, white meat, young cheeses.