Four tips to better enjoy your wine

Christmas is upon us and plenty of special bottles of wine will be open over the coming days to celebrate, here is our 4 tips on how to enjoy them at their best. Simple measures that can literally transform your wine drinking experience.

Get the temperature right

One of the common errors when serving a bottle of wine is its temperature. There is a tendency, even in restaurants, to serve white and sparkling wines straight from the fridge, our fridge at home is set at about 4 or 5 ºC which is way too cold, we are killing all flavours and aromas of the wine and even the most dreadful wine will taste ok. White wines would want to be served between 8 and 12 ºC, the more complex the wine, the higher the serving temperature should be. Same applies for red wines, the ideal temperature, except for light fruity wines with no tannins, is around 18 to 20 ºC, too cold and we will only feel the tannins, too warm and the alcohol will take over the wine.

Know when and how to decant red wines

Lets start by dispelling the myth, simply removing the cork from the bottle will make no difference to the wine, there is not enough oxygen going through.
Letting a wine "breathe" is a technique for reds, particularly wines with plenty of tannins, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon are some of the grapes that have plenty, or structured, aged wines. The same technique can be used with white wines, again aged and structured white wines, and sparkling wines, old vintages, very good and expensive bottle of classic method wine.
Remember not to fill the whole decanter, always ensure that there is enough air going through.

Use the correct glass

Wine glasses are different for a reason, and the correct glass allows a better wine drinking experience. Red wine glasses are wider as to facilitate the oxygenation of the wine, even more important when the wine has not been decanted in a decanter, and remember not to serve sparkling wines in flutes, always use their own glass similar to white wine glasses or if you don’t have them, use white wine glasses. The flute is too narrow to allow the air to react with the wine and release its flavours

Don’t fill the glass completely

The general rule wants you to pour about 2 fingers of wine in the glass, that allows the air to get to the wine, even better if helped by a gently swirl.