How’s Your Wine Hygiene?

It constantly amazes me how many restaurants will happily serve you a $50+ bottle of wine in the wrong stemware at room temperature or often warmer. If you are going to charge me an arm and a leg for a bottle that is double to triple the mark up from what I can buy in the store, at least serve it in the correct stemware at the proper serving temperature! Okay, obviously this is a pet peeve of mine. In fact, my husband and I know who’s guilty among our favorite local restaurants and we will call ahead to have a bottled chilled prior to our arrival. Call it high maintenance but for what restaurant’s charge it’s only fair to ask that the wine is served correctly.

The way that you store and serve wine can make a big difference on the experience that you have with a bottle of wine. So if you are going to spring for a nice bottle, serve wine at a dinner party, or just want to maximize your wine’s potential,  it’s good to know some tips on how to store and serve wine: temperature, decanting, and stemware.

Storing Wine:

We all know the proverbial saying that, “Wine gets better with age.” The reality is that wine has a prime, just like us. Only a small percentage of wines made today are meant for aging. I once had a friend bring over a bottle of Peachy Canyon Zinfandel, that he had randomly selected to age for 10 years, to celebrate a new job.  I couldn’t bear to tell him that it was probably well past it’s prime, so I played along. He took his first sip and I instantly saw the disappointment on his face. As a general rule of thumb, a $20 bottle of wine from the grocery store shelf does not become a $50 bottle 10 years later.

Most wines are meant to be enjoyed young and most casual wine drinkers enjoy younger wines for their freshness because it’s what we are accustom too. As wines age they tend to become more earthy and literally taste more like dirt, leather, and barnyard flavors. Aged wine is typically an acquired taste for a more advanced palate. While a winemaker can make a calculated estimate of when a specific bottle of wine will peak, the most accurate judge will be time itself. Once they past their prime drinking years, they will slowly start to decline and eventually turn. If you are planning to age wine it’s important to store it on its side to keep the cork moist and at the proper temperature. Most importantly, make sure that it’s a wine that the winemaker intended to age and that you don’t miss your optimal drinking window.

They say that the ideal temperature for storing wine is between 45- 65 degrees.  Your wine can turn if the temperatures gets too hot (above 70-80 degrees) or too cold (below 45 degrees) over a prolonged period of time.  My husband and I have a temperature controlled cellar that we keep at 57 degrees. Obviously we fall into the long tale of homes with a wine cellar, but there are many smaller, more cost effective wine refrigerators on the market ranging in size and price point.

If you are storing wine in a non-temperature controlled wine rack, consistency is key. Try to maintain a consistent temperature in your home as wine does not do well with constant fluctuations in temperature.

Serving Wine

Temperature:

The temperature at which wine is served can make a big difference on your experience and enjoyment of a specific wine. Wines that are served too hot will put too much emphasis on the alcohol and taste flat. Wines that are served too cold will stifle the aromas and flavors of the wine. Ideal serving temperature for wine varies based on the type:

• Light bodied white and sparkling should be served between 40-50 degrees.
• Full bodied white and light red should be served between 50-60 degrees.
• Full bodied red and port should be served between 60-65 degrees.

When it comes to red wine my husband and I are always happy to drink right from our cellar at 57 degrees and let the wine warm up as we enjoy it. For white wine we will pop it in the refrigerator for 30-60 min to bring it down to serving temperature.

If you are cooling off your wine from room temperature, I recommend putting your red wine in the in the refrigerator for 40 minutes and white wine for about 2 hours. The freezer is also a perfectly safe and quick way to chill your wine before serving. I usually do 10-20 min in the freezer maximum for red wine. This is not an exact science just how my husband I choose to do it. You may find you like your wine to be served slightly cooler or warmer.

If you are at a restaurant and the wine is served too hot, don’t be shy to ask them to put in the freezer or an ice chest at the bar for 10-15 min. We have also asked our server to bring an ice bucket to our table so we can pour a small sip and have the bottle continue to chill while we start enjoying our wine.

Decanting:

You can decant both white and red wine, although it’s more commonly done with red wine. Decanting wine is the process of pouring the contents of the bottle into a decanter, which is a glass vessel or craft. This process exposes the wine to air which help aerate the wine. This helps the wine open up and enhances the aromas and flavors. On average I would recommend decanting a wine for 20-60 min, decanting longer as you move from light bodied to full bodied red wines. Older wines tend to be more delicate and you may not want to decant the wine at all.  The exposure to air in your glass may be all that it needs.

We have a range of decanters at home, from a Baccarat Crystal decanter that was a wedding gift to us, to a Crate and Barrel decanter that we purchased for under $30. When it comes to decanting the wine, they both get the job done.

If you order a nice bottle of wine at a restaurant don’t be shy to ask your server for a decanter. Most restaurants with a nice wine menu have them and are willing to decant your wine if you ask for it.

Stemware:

Using the right stemware can enhance your experience with wine. The different types and shapes of wine glasses actually do serve a purpose and are meant to compliment the wine, how it breaths and where it hits your tongue when you drink from it. Here are 4 types of glasses:

Bordeaux Glasses:

Have a tall body and a wide bowl. The wide bowl helps to aerate the wine and is intended to hit you in the back of the mouth. These glasses are intended for full bodied red wines such as Cabernet.

Burgundy Glasses:

Have a significantly wider bowl and a shorter body than the Bordeaux glass. They are intended to hit you on the tip of your tongue. These glasses are intended for light bodied wines such as Pinot Noir.

White Wine Glasses:

Have a smaller body and narrower bowl to help preserve the freshness of white wine. For full bodied whites like Chardonnay, more oxygen is more desirable and may drink better out of a wider body glass. Full bodied whites are an example of a white wine that you might want to decant.

Champagne Flutes:

Have a tall body and very narrow bowl, which is designed to keep in the carbonation.

When it comes to buying stemware for the home there are a lot of wonderful options. I stick to clear, untextured glasses so I don’t alter the appearance. Stemless glasses have become very popular. If I’m being completely honest, I’m not a fan because you have to hold them by the bowl which warms up the wine and also leaves messy finger prints all over the glass. I much prefer to hold the glass by its stem to keep a clean bowl and not warm the wine with my muggy hands.

When my husband and I registered for our wedding, we decided to go with Stolzle wine glasses versus Riedel. I found them to look and feel just as elegant without the high price point of a Riedel. For us, we like to entertain and with entertaining comes accidents. We figured we would save a bundle in wine glass replacement costs without giving up any perceived quality. I think they are beautiful glasses, which we highly recommend. We purchased ours through Amazon and here is the Stolzle Website:  http://www.stolzle-usa.com