Let us
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| Wine Consultant with clients Auberge St. Antoine a’ ville du Québec Canada. Please take note of the carafes, ice bucket & the large ice bath on the serving tray. |
have a discussion today on wine. Not which to drink but how you present and care for wines with your guests.
Simplified, this abstract encourages you to look further once you take a few small steps.
Caveat, that’s Latin for be careful here. There may be times in circumstances that cause you to not be able to follow these recommendations. So there will be times when you will have to use your own good judgement in deciding what and when to follow these guidelines. Such as you’re at a cocktail party with 25 other people, it would not be cool to test the wine temperature.
- Glassware.Simply stated - medium white wine to serve in a U-shaped glass, focusing the aroma and taste on a narrow opening.Medium red wine – a bowl shaped wine glass.
- Serving temperature -A medium red wine should be sure served at a temperature of 60 to 65°.White wine at a serving temperature of 45 to 50°.Champagne 45°.
- Aeration or opening.Red wine, specifically, and some whites, are dramatically improved if you give them some time to breathe. By that I mean, open the wine, pour into a clean glass container and then pour it back into the wine bottle. That's the simplest advice and that came from Clement Brown, a Wine Connoisseur and salesman for the famous Seagram Company of NYC.
- Price point for a wine to be served a guest. A good rule of thumb is the adequate price point for a wine you are getting ready to serve to a guest is between $20 and $30 purchased at the wine store. Beyond $40 and $60 your into the more more limited, aged and sophisticated wine.
Those are Constantine's basic wine protocols for the fundamentals of wine – particularly when you are hosting guests.
What follows is of greater depth -
I'm inviting you to take a journey with me along with five other people. My advisory group is comprised of two wine California aficionados, a retired Emeritus Wine Club Chairman, two Sommeliers and lastly, an esteemed Wine Consultant with expertise in Bordeaux. That be Bordeaux France, the city.
The purpose of this blog post is principally very basic. It will refresh your memory with regards to the purchase, preparation and serving of wines to your guests.
Selection
At risk at enraging anyone I’m going to just proffer one piece of advice or knowledge – The higher the alcohol content the dryer the wine.
Price point
Regardless of the type of wine you choose, you should anticipate a wine or bubbles that you're going to serve to guests, the price point is going to be -
More available average wines $20-$25.
Greater specialty wines, blends $40 and up
Those greatly aged and less available wines $60. and up.
These price points will give you a relatively "smart wine" that you'll be pleased to serve your guests or as a gift.
And yes, mail oui at home I’m content with a vin de table, Sauvignon Blanc sil vows plait. But not so for my girlfriend - her’s more exotic reds chilled appropriately and in a Burgundy glass.
Storage
I know you won't be surprised to relearn that your wine should be stored in a cool dark location, a cellar temperature of 55°, a max of 65 degrees. Ideally, a 25 bottled wine cave is very satisfactory. A 50 bottle wine cave is regally satisfactory.
Serving temperature
Generally speaking people are universal in agreement that it should be at room temperature, however – understand this is room temperature in a cellar or a drafty old English or French château. That means your wines are probably going to be in the 55° range. The following is the average guidelines for the types of wines is recommended that you serve so this is the temperature at pouring time –
Champagne and sparkling wines. 45 degrees
White wines. 55 degrees
Red wine. 61 degrees
If you have not been following this practice some experimentation and you'll realize the significant difference that you get by serving your ones at these temperature
Aerating your wine.
This is similar to decanting, but not the same. Clement would open a bottle, white or red, pour into a clean glass container and then pour back in the bottle. This allows the wine to aerate just prior to a party you're having with a gathering of people. The purpose of aerating a wine is to let the wine expand-breathe and become like it's original home in those fantastically oak wine barrels where they were first born.
Glassware
We're not talking crystal here. But we are speaking of a good quality wine glass.
Red wine bowl shaped, O
White wine, U shaped
Champagne, Fluted
Alternatively a “Champagne glass” or a Coupe.
The purpose of the glassware is to enhance the aroma and the taste of the wine, so therefore you want to encapsulate the bubbles of champagne into a small narrow medium. The whole purpose of drinking the champagne is for the bubbles, so why would you pour them in a glass that dissipates the bubbles.
Similarly, with a white wine, you want to focus that you shaped narrow lipped top so that the aroma of these very simplified wines enhance that nose of the wine. Red wines, which are so much more bolder, are best appreciated in a larger bowl that allows those red aromatic notes to rise up to your nose and taste.
Universal wine glasses? There is no such thing as a universal wine glass, skip that and save your money.
The finish.
I find it very appropriate when I'm first pouring the glass of wine to make a little toast - to my guests. If it's my girlfriend, I might even reach across the table and give her a kiss. A word of caution – be careful here if it's friends. Toast their health. C'est bon.
Pouring Champagne at an angle minimises the loss of those fantastic bubbles.
I hope these tips and this reflection on skills you have learned in the past will serve you well in appreciating your wonderful purchase be a Bordeaux or a Sancerre.
I would like to thank my wonderful group of advisors who assembled for this commentary. They gave up their time freely and we're most enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge experiences and training.
Merci Mesdames et Messieurs - Vince, Karen, Clement, Frank, Al and ----- along with Robert Parker, Marcel Desaulniers, Buzz BeLer and the charming wine steward lady from the Bordeaux Chateau and the very wise Sommelier from the Homestead Resort.
“Que la fête commence!"
Constantine
And, no wine was spilled nor injured during the course of this gathering.
