With all wine festivals happening around these days, here is a bit of stuff you must know about Wine & its drinking etiquette!
A general understanding of the art of drinking, serving and tasting wine will help you appreciate it more. Bring a bottle and a cheese platter, throw on some red lipstick and dance the night away.
Glassware:
There are subtle differences between the glasses that you use for white and red wine. A traditional red wine glass has a large bowl, which is also wide enough so you can swirl the liquid with ease, making the aromas of the wine reach the tip of the glass.
White wine glasses have a longer stem and a more slender globe, to ensure that your fingers are away from the bowl and it stays as cool as possible.
Champagne and other sparkling wines are served in “flutes” which are long and narrow, to help preserve the bubbles.
Whatever the wine, ensure that the glass has a clear bowl, so that you can get a good look at the wines color and intensity.
Serving wine:
Filling facts- fill the red wine glass to 1/3rd full, white wine glass ½ full and sparkling wine 3/4th full.
Proper placement- on the table, your wine glass goes to right of your water glass.
Toasting- it is polite to maintain eye contact when clinking glasses to a toast. Otherwise, you risk seven years of bad luck (read: bad sex) according to French superstition.
Sequence- If you’re serving more than one wine, remember this golden rule: white before red, light before dark, dry before sweet, simple before complex. This ensures that the boldest sweetest wines don’t overwhelm the more delicate subtle ones you are to sip first.
“Twist and pour”- to prevent dripping when filling your glass, twist the bottle at the end of pouring. It also looks fancy!
Drink it up-
Once the wine is poured in appropriately, its time to enjoy and evaluate the wine. This has four basic steps: looking, swirling, smelling and tasting.
Looking- At this stage you will be evaluating the wine by its appearance and color. Hold it up to the light and observe all the hues. Red wine must not be brown or flat looking. White wines have shades of golden and amber. You may even notice greens sometimes!
Smelling- Swirl the wine gently in the glass to aerate the wines myriad aromas. Swirling lifts the scents up to the rim of the glass. Inhale deeply with your mouth open. Your smell will determine your perception of taste greatly.
Tasting- next, take a small sip and let it linger in your mouth before you swallow. This helps you take in all the flavors the wine has to offer. Now that you have full prepared yourself to enjoy the glass, drink up and have fun!
A helpful tip if you have lipstick on and don’t want to stain the glass, (which removes colour and looks a bit icky) simply lick the edge of the glass discretely right before you take a sip. Now you’re ready!
Happy Wine drinking!
Content contributor : Saumya Chawla
tanvisparekh.blog 