A Wine Expert Weighs In On Taylor Swift’s Iced White Wine Trick

In the new Netflix documentary Miss Americana, director Lana Wilson paints a picture of Taylor Swift that is, above all else, likable and relatable. How can you possibly find yourself relating to a millionaire pop star who sells out arenas and writes Grammy-winning songs, you might ask? By watching her sip on a glass of white wine filled with ice cubes. 

In one scene from the documentary, which is streaming on Netflix now, Swift is shown making dinner with her longtime friend Abigail. During this scene, the singer nonchalantly offers Abigail some ice cubes to chill down her glass wine, and the two friends fill their glasses to the brim with the ice before drinking. This particular moment has been mentioned by many of the early reviews of Miss Americana, likely because the scenario is just all too relatable. Who among us hasn't grown impatient when chilling a bottle of wine and just taken a shortcut by plopping an ice cube or two in our glasses to speed up the process?

If you pay attention to wine "rules," you're probably aware that icing down your wine isn't exactly how most sommeliers would recommend enjoying the drink, but that doesn't mean it's a total no-no. "When it comes to putting ice cubes in your wine, I say you do you," Sayle Milne, certified wine educator and founder of Wine Savvy NYC, tells Refinery29. Milne believes that if you're in a pinch, reaching for ice cubes to cool down your wine is perfectly acceptable, as long as you use a specific technique. "Put one or two cubes in, give your glass a vigorous swirl for about five seconds and then fish those cubes out," she explains. "You get the benefit of chilling the wine down without the ice melting, diluting the wine, and changing the flavor."

If you and your besties find yourselves in a situation where you're ready to pop open a bottle of wine even though you just picked it up from a store's shelf on your way to hang, Milne recommends considering the type of wine and its price point before you're tempted by the ice cube tray. "Have I put ice cubes in my everyday wine? Yes. Would I put them into a glass of DRC Montrachet? Never," the wine educator shares. "If you are drinking a high-quality wine, please take the extra 20 minutes to chill that bottle down properly in the freezer. But if you are drinking an $8.99 bottle of Pinot Grigio, go ahead and plop those cubes in, as I don't think you have committed any major wine crimes."

Given that Swift was shown drinking wine sans ice in other scenes from Miss Americana, we're going to assume that she was enjoying a nice, cheap white during this casual night in with her old friend. And, really, doesn't that make the scene more relatable still?