Christmas is all about celebration, feasting and fun. And expenses, lots of expenses. We want to have fun. So, like every year, we will try to buy slightly better wines than usual, at least a little more expensive.
But there will be no point in opening a good red reserve if you don’t serve it well and drink it well. Or said by another: if we don’t store it, open it, and serve it properly, we can spoil it. SO, How to drink a good wine to enjoy everything it contains?
We don’t need to be irritable and delay so that It seems that “we know wine”. But we can do it, in a very simple way, taking into account the temperature of the wine, the opening of the bottle and its decantation/oxygenation (in the case of aging wines).
At what temperature
The temperature of the wine is essential for the correct perception of its characteristics. Depending on the type of wine that we are going to taste, the ideal consumption temperature will vary.
The optimal temperature for serving wine is that in which we can appreciate all its aromas and nuances. You therefore need to know which one corresponds to the wine you have in hand. Attention :
- Whites aged in barrels and sweet wines: between 10 and 12°C
- Young rosés and whites: between 7 and 10°C
- Young reds: between 12 and 14°C
- Aging of reds: between 14 and 17°C
- Signature wines: they must be served between 14 and 18°C
- Reserve and gran reserve reds: between 16 and 18°C
How to properly unblock
You don’t need to use a lot of force or be a professional expert to properly uncork a bottle. We just need a good corkscrewalthough there are alternative ways. The most comfortable are those that incorporate a simple two-stage lever system and a foil cutter.
You should try not to move the bottle too much. This is to prevent particles or sediments present in the wine from remaining in suspension. Additionally, we need to cut the bottle cap below the rim of the bottle, just below the neck. This is the drip collector.
You must stick the corkscrew in the center of the cork to prevent it from breaking. And be careful, never go completely through the socket or there is a risk of seeing cork remains falling into the wine. Using force, we need to rotate the cork so that air enters the bottle (this helps us remove the cork). Then all that remains is to clean the neck of the bottle.
In which glasses
The shape and design of a wine glass is the key to maximum enjoyment. Every wine needs a glass that highlights its best characteristics. Of course, no colored or detailed glasses which transform the color of the wine. Yes, you drink with your eyes too.
Red wine glasses have a wide chalice and a large mouth. This helps the wine aerate better, improving its aromas and flavors. Instead, the White wine glasses are smaller and have a narrower chalice.. These wines prefer less aeration to maintain their freshness.
In general, this would be the norm:
Red wines: large calyx, large mouth for aeration. These are the cases of the Burgundy and Bordeaux cuts.
White wines: calyx less wide, cup smaller.
Sparkling: neither the wide and old one (Gastby or Pompadour glass) nor the narrow and elongated one. The ideal for cavas and champagnes is the tulip, slightly narrower than that of wine to concentrate the aromas.
Decant the wine
Decanting a wine means transferring it from the bottle to another container, the carafe. This step will not be necessary in most cases. Or in another way, Let’s not fall into the absurdity, the pure posture, of decanting everything wines.
They only need oxygen, which is why older wines, like Reserva or Gran Reserva, are decanted. The certain musty aroma that they can give off disappears after a few minutes of contact with air. In this way we can perceive all the good that this wine has generated over the years without humidity getting in the way.
Additionally, at the bottom of wine bottles that are several years old tend to have deposits. These precipitated particles are not bad, but they can bother us when tasting wine. If we decant this wine, we help ensure that the lees are not in suspension but remain at the bottom of the bottle, far from the container.
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