In order to get the best out of any wine it is important to serve at the correct temperature. It may not be necessary to invest in expensive storage units and elaborate devices: simple common sense and standard equipment that is widely available are often enough to ensure that the wines are enjoyed at their best.
No doubt, you’ve already experienced how wildly different your coffee, tea or water tastes at different temperatures. This same ideology applies to wine. Here is a list of recommended serving temperatures for all styles of wine:
A rule of thumb, especially in warmer climates such as ours, is to rather serve your wines too chilled than too warm. A too cold wine will warm very quickly in the glass, whereas the only way to chill a warm wine is to add ice.
An ice bucket for red wines is also encouraged, especially during the warmer months, or when you don't have access to a wine fridge.
DECANTING WINE
On occasion, wines have a heavy deposit and may need to be decanted. This deposit is quite natural in many good red wines and happens during aging. If you need to decant a bottle, do as follows:
First remove the bottle horizontally from its rack and place it in a decanting basket if available. Alternatively, hold carefully, making sure the deposit is not agitated.
Very gently, remove the top of the capsule and clean the shoulder and neck of the bottle. Very gently remove the cork.
Remove the bottle from the basket, being careful not to disturb the deposit. Holding the bottle in front of a light, pour the wine carefully into a decanter until the deposit can be seen near the neck. At this point, stop pouring.
AERATING
Aerating wine simply means exposing the wine to air or giving it a chance to ‘breathe’ before drinking it. The reaction between the oxygen and the wine affects the flavour of the wine.
While some young red wines will benefit from aeration, showing softer, rounder tannins, you should be wary of aerating older red wines with more than just a swirl in the glass!
WHAT IS STANDARD GLASS POURING
A bottle of wine contains just over 750 ml so it’s common to see it portioned out into five servings of 150 ml each.
HOW DO I HOLD MY GLASS
While it may seem tempting to cup the bowl of your wine glass, your hands will heat up your wine. As you want to preserve the temperature of your glass, hold it by the stem.
