THE BEST INFORMATION FOR DEMANDING PALATES

The wide diversity of glasses, corkscrew and wine accessories that we can find in the market nowadays makes us think about how complicated and confusing serving wine may be. Here is some information, without being excessive, that will enable you to offer a good wine service so that the wine may express its best attributes and you may enjoy it.

Serving the wine at the right temperature will enable all its charm to be unfolded. Basically, it is convenient to know that white wine needs to be cold enough so as to turn out to be refreshing and red wine must be served at a lightly higher temperature. Anyway, during a hot summer, it will surely be more pleasant to taste a wine at a lower temperature than what we would prefer during a cold winter night.

Therefore, do not hesitate to ask for your red wine to be cooled during a suffocating summer lunch. Obviously, if the restaurant staff is qualified, this should not happen, but if by omission or distraction your wine is “warm” and you should ask for it to be cooled, the suggestion would be well accepted. One thing though: do not ask for ice and put it inside the wine glass. Ask for an ice bucket and place the bottle inside until the wine reaches the wished temperature.

Uncorking

• Put the bottle on a table and remove the upper end of the foil covering the cork. This operation may be done with a foil cutter, though the right way is to do is it with the knife that is part of the so-called “waiter” corkscrew, which allows making the cut under the neck of the bottle.
• Insert the tip of the curl in the center of the cork and start rotating the corckscrew (it is the corkscrew which must turn, not the bottle).
• Start removing the cork slowly and when it is about to come out, make some circular movements in order to allow the entrance of air so that the cork ejects with the less noise possible.

Wine glasses

Tasting a certain wine in an appropriate glass may considerably increase the degree of satisfaction provided by that wine.

The shape of the glass will exert determining influence on the taste the wine will present in the mouth.

If you have bothered to choose a wine that made you feel interested, serve it in a glass that will highlight its virtues. What is most important, choose a glass that narrows at the top, so that the wine may spread its aromas. In order to appreciate color, choose a glass made of the finest crystal, smooth and transparent, whose stem is long enough so as not to touch the goblet when holding it.

Nowadays, there is a kind of glass for each style of wine and the reason for this is that every glass, which has been carefully studied, directs the liquid flow to a certain part of the tongue in order to stress the wine qualities. Even if it is true that the wine is perceived in a different way according to the glass style, it will be enough to choose a glass like the one described above or else have two or three different kinds of glass: one for sparkling wines, another one “Burdeos” like for red wines and another one for white wines.

The last two kinds of glasses may be replaced by a tasting glass, whose shape and size are suitable for tasting any wine style.

At the moment of serving wine, if it is red, take into account that the glass is filled only up to two thirds of its capacity and if it is white, a little less than that so that the temperature of the wine does not rise inside the glass.