Serving and Entertaining

An hour or two before you serve wine, it must be chilled. The rule of thumb is that whites should be chilled and red kept at room temperature. However, theres a little more to it than that. First, NEVER overchill wine. It will kill the flavors. Acidic, light, dessert and sparkling wines should be served at 50 degrees F. Dry wines like Chardonnay and Alsace can be a little warmer.

Red wine should be kept at a temp a little higher than room temperature. Be sure to keep all your wine away from a heat source- heat is wine’s worst enemy. When you’re talking about lighter reds like Dolcetto, Beaujolais or even lighter reds like Loire are best served a little chilled. I would suggest about an hour in the fridge prior to serving time.
For white wines, leave the bottle open in a bucket of ice and water and leave it on the table throughout the meal.

Decanting
Now that you have some wines on the table, do you open them right away? You should only let younger reds breathe before pouring into a glass. With less mature reds, the air will help the wine even out. After all, wine IS living material. Let it breathe! I find that with younger reds, its best to decant them. A decanter is simply a glass jug with a glass cork. A decanter can also be used if the wine you are serving contains a heavy sediment. Think of the decanter as a strainer. Pour the wine into a slow, steady stream alongside the decanter and leave on the table for about half an hour before serving. When the decanter is empty, go ahead and throw away any last drops that have sediment. If more is left, use a strainer. But stay away from things like coffee filters- they don’t mix with wine’s tender flavors.

Glasses

When all is served and chilled, here comes the glass. It will make or break your wine tasting experience, believe it or not! The shape of your glass will affect the taste and smell of your lovely wine.

First things first: Don’t ever buy colored glassware for wine. That includes the stems. Make them color free. They distort the appearance of wine, white wine expecially. Crystal cut glasses are gorgeous and sophisticated, but then again, the cut does make it hard to see the wine. Try to find deep wide bowled glasses. This way, the aromas are going to be released easily. Also, you can swirl a lot easier with a glass shape like this. You may notice that red wines are served in bigger glasses than white. That is because matured reds need more breathing space. The wine glass is where your wine will be at its best, so keep in mind when purchasing a glass that the bigger the better.

Of course sparkling wines should be served in flutes-tall thin glasses with straight sides so that the fizz is preserved. Don’t fill a flute to the top with champagne though. A long time in the glass will sour the taste. Pour as much as you can drink in a short while.