if you have a wine bottle that is older than 20 years, make sure that you understand the deterioration process of the cork. Therefore, when you open the wine, there is a good chance that the cork will split or tear. This is a natural process that will happen with almost all wine bottles.
When storing wines, you should make sure they reach a temperature of 57 degrees. This is the best temperature to serve a wine, but you might want to chill your white wines or let your red wines warm a little by simply placing the bottle on the table half an hour before your meal.
If you have a wine cellar and you need a bottle for a party of special occasion, do not bring it upstairs until the day of the event. Wine needs to be brought up the day of the event in order to reach room temperature. But, bringing it up to soon could ruin the wine.
Do not drink wine until it has breathed a bit. There is really no need for decanters or aerators. Pour the wine into your container of choice. Have the wine sit in the open air for ten minutes. Next, taste the wine and also a sample directly from the wine bottle. There should be a marked difference between the “straight from the bottle” sample and the one that was allowed to sit for a while.
Red wine should be opened and left to breathe for a while. As oxygen mixes with the wine, the wine will develop a better taste. You will get a much deeper, more complex flavor than without the ingredients.
Remember the importance of storage when you buy a fine wine. It’s best kept cool and within consistent temperatures to preserve taste. Also, always store your bottles away on their side so that the cork will not dry out. If this happens it can break off during removal and fall into the bottle.
Rather than settling on cheap champagne when on a tight budget, buy a nice sparkling wine. A great wine from Australia will be reasonably priced and comparable to champagne, whereas a lower-priced bottle of the real bubbly will probably not have a very good flavor. Consider switching out options rather than trading down too far.
Don’t buy cheap bottle for cooking wine. A good rule of thumb is – if you won’t drink it on its own, never cook with it either. Wines specifically made for cooking are often poor alternatives that have preservatives and different colorings in them. And even cheap table wines can be just as bad. These are not the tastes that will make your food better.
If you open a bottle of wine and some cork pieces break off inside the wine, do not despair. You can still enjoy the wine by doing a simple thing. Just pour all the wine through a strainer into a decanter. This will eliminate all the little pieces of cork from your wine.
Now that you’ve become a bit more educated about wine, you’re well on your way towards making a good wine selection the next time such an occasion should arise. You can buy it, serve it, store it or drink it in the bathtub, if you wish. From the knowledge gained from this article, you’ll be a master of wine selection in no time.
