How to Serve Wine Properly

Wine serving is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. There are a few specific rules for how wine should be properly served to guests. These rules are not only for etiquette in social situations but can affect the taste of both the wine and the food that is being served with it.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Wine should always be served by the host. The host is also required to pour the first few drops of a bottle of wine in his, or her, own glass to ensure that the wine served to the guests does not taste like cork.

2. The ladies should be served first.

3. Pour only enough wine to fill each glass halfway. It is the host's responsibility to make sure that each guests glass stays full and to fill the glass when it becomes empty.

4. Always properly prepare the wine beforehand. This means having the wine at the right temperature, allowing it to breathe, and using the correct glasses for each wine.

5. Serve the wine before dinner is served so that guests can taste it. Also leave the bottle of wine on the table so that it can be looked at by your guests.

Tips & Warnings

• As a general rule red wines should be served at room temperature and white wines should be chilled. Each wine is different and the temperature will affect the taste of the wine, so check what temperature is best for the specific wine.

• Wines should also be aerated, so open the wine and allow it to breathe before serving it. A decanter is great for the purpose of aerating a wine. The amount of time that a wine should be aerated differs. White wines are usually aerated longer than red wines, but check with the specific wine to find the perfect amount of time to ensure the best result.

• The wine glasses are also important and can affect the wine. The larger open wine glasses are typically used for red wines while the smaller wine glasses should be used with white wines. Each variation of wine glass has a specific design.