The Best Way to Serve Wine

Both red and white wines do best when served properly.

Wine is rich and complex. As one of the world's oldest drinks, wine consumption is a common pastime in much of the world. Ranging from very cheap to exorbitant in cost, wine is also one of the most temperamental foodstuffs.

Serving wine correctly involves proper glassware, optimal temperature, breathing time and a good pour. The best way to serve wine combines all of these attributes into one optimal experience for the drinker, while showcasing the beverage to its highest advantage.

Things You'll Need

• Corkscrew
• Wine foil cutter
• Wine glasses
• Refrigerator or ice bucket
• Ice water

Instructions

1. Store wines outside of the refrigerator in the long term. According to the wine and alcohol website ThatstheSpirit.com, storing wine in refrigeration "can encourage the development of bitartrate crystals and make the wine taste simple and flat." Instead, chill wines right before service.

2. Bring the wine to its optimal temperature. For both white and red wines, chilling is best. White and rose wines fare well at around 55 degrees after one or two hours of refrigeration; red wines do best at around 60 degrees, not the warmer room temperature of modern times.

3. Open the wine bottle carefully, taking care to observe safe decorking techniques. Always pull the cork out and away from the face, especially in the case of sparkling wines or champagnes. If the cork is resistant, push it into the bottle and decant the wine instead.

4. Allow older red wines to breathe for several hours before serving. This rids the wine of any built-up unsavory aromas within the bottle. Most other red wines can simply breathe in the glass after pouring.

5. Serve wines in a carefully planned order to optimize flavor. Lighter wines should go first; whites are best before reds because of their finer flavors. Drink dry wines before sweet in order to keep the palate balanced. If serving wines with dinner, it's okay to deviate in order to match the courses.

6. Decant the wine, if necessary. Decanting helps agitate and mix heavier wines like port and is "generally only necessary for wines which, by nature of the way in which they are made, throw a sediment," according to ThatstheSpirit.com. Otherwise, stick to the original bottle.

7. Serve the wine in a glass with a wide bowl that tapers to a slightly narrower top; use champagne flutes for champagne and sparkling wines.

   Although there are specialty wine glasses for specific varieties, they're not necessary if money is tight. Specialty glasses direct each sip of wine to an isolated region of the taste buds, enhancing common characteristics of the variety. However, these glasses may not make much of a difference to the casual wine drinker.

8. Pour wine slowly, filling the glass only halfway. Add a slight twist of the bottle at the end of the pour to minimize dripping. If you'd like, stopper sparkling wines to decrease carbonation loss after pouring.

Tips & Warnings

• If quick chilling is necessary, use an ice water bath rather than submerging the bottle in ice. This allows for a gentler chill that is less damaging to the wine.

References

• That's the Spirit!: How to Serve Wine
• FPSI: How to Serve Wine