Storing Wine

Storing wine is a great practice if you can manage it. Often this is easier said than done, as your pesky friends will drink you dry!

However, if you are a good little saver then storing wine can pay dividends.

One reason to store wine is you never know when you will have something to celebrate, so it would be a shame if your cellar is empty when that day comes.

Also, the old saying that “wine only gets better with age” does have truth to it. Over time the tannins in the wine will soften into something complex and beautiful that only time can give you.

If you want to get started storing wine, then here are a few things you should consider:

• Keep it cool and at a constant temperature. 
  • Fast-changing temperatures can and will ruin the wine. It’s best to let it warm up gradually if you need to warm it at all
• Any bright light is to be avoided. 
  • This means you should store your wine out of the reach of the sun and any other direct lighting. 
  • This is also handy for keeping cravings and friends at bay
• Store the wine bottle on its side, specifically for corked bottles.
  • This ensures the cork is always kept in contact with the wine and not allowed to dry out. 
  • If the cork did dry out, then air will be able to move through the cork easily tainting the wine at a much faster rate. 
• Do not store wine cases, as wine stored in plastic should be consumed as soon as possible

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So, once you decide to invite me over and uncork your finest wine, here are some guidelines on how to serve that tasty wine.

Okay, so everyone has their own preferences and personal preference always trumps these recommendations.

If you like your wine hot out of the microwave, then that’s your choice and I may not come by for that wine after all….

Wine is usually stored cold, so you need to consider giving it time to warm up before the time comes for service. Wine will not respond well to quick changes in temperature

Before serving, look at the wine. What does it look like? Is it white, is it red, is it hazy, is it blue?

Very few producers will let their wine serve hazy, as the general market isn’t cool with that. So if it looks hazy, then this means there is an issue. Also, if the wine is blue, it might not be wine… you probably want to check that for an issue too.

Smell the wine, everyone likes catching a whiff of their own stock, so don’t be shy. If you smell vinegar or wet dog, then you are best to avoid serving it to your friends and save it for your enemies. 

Wine Glassware:

The 3 types you might want to be aware of are

1. The Champagne Flute
   • The smallest of the glasses; This is designed to keep the carbon dioxide from getting too rowdy and leaving the party early
   • You may remember champagne towers from the movies, which were a big thing in their time, with the wide-mouth glasses. These glasses were, of course, no good as the champagne would quickly go flat
   • These glasses obviously didn’t last long and that’s what lead to the development of the Champagne Flute
2. White Wine Glass:
   • Medium size and is perfect for white wines with medium alcohol and no tannins. It doesn’t require the oxidation that reds require to come to life
3. Red Wine Glass:
   • Standard large wine glass which allows breathability to your red wines with high alcohol and tannins

How to open Sparkling Wine:

If you’ve never opened a bottle of Champagne then this is a must-read section. The pressure in a champagne bottle is typically between 70 and 90 pounds per square inch.

This is equivalent to 3 times the pressure within your car’s tires, so be careful and maybe only try this at home, so that you don’t put someone’s eye out in a restaurant

Steps to Open:

1. If cosmetics matter to you then you should make a neat, straight cut through the foil, instead of ripping it and potentially having pieces everywhere ( a real mess! )
2. Remove the foil
3. Put your thumb on top of the cork including the wire cage and keep a firm grip to ensure the cork will not leave the bottle early (insert sex joke)
4. Keep this grip and at the same time loosen the wire cage
5. Continue with the same grip, tilt the bottle at a 45-degree angle away from you and others keeping one hand on the cork and one hand on the base of the champagne bottle
6. Keeping a firm grip on the cork with your thumb at the top, twist the base of the bottle
7. Does this 3-4 more times. The pressure in the bottle will slowly push the cork out as you twist
8. By the 4th time the cork should be released with a quiet “Fute” noise, but without the excessive loss of sparkling wine

The alternative is to get someone with a saber to come in and do it all in one clean sweep!

Intro to Tasting:

This is a 4 step process you can use to understanding the wine you are drinking better! Here are the steps in order, you want to judge the:

1. Appearance (colour, tears, clarity, etc)
2. Scent (referred to as Nose in WSET) – fruit flavours, notes of wood, faults
3. Taste (aka Palate) – body, alcohol, tannins, acidity, sweetness
4. Name the wine – Grape Variety, Climate, Country, Producer, Region, Age/Vintage

There is a lot there, and it may seem a bit overkill, especially for someone who just wants to enjoy wine. However, there is a purpose behind this madness and that is the true role of a sommelier.

Let’s attempt to define what value a sommelier brings to the table (pun intended).

Everyone has their own personal taste, this is what drives people to wear different shoes, perfumes, etc. With flavours we have the same differences and this is why some people love black licorice and most people don’t.

Let’s go on a quick journey. Let’s say you get a big job promotion at work, and go out for a nice dinner with your partner. It’s a big day, and we can assume you’re not getting promotions every day.

As a learning sommelier, you dive into the extensive wine list, get all excited, there are so many options you want to try, but then you realize you can’t try them all and have to make your best guess…. Yikes, what if you pay $120 for a bottle of vinegar.

Okay, so you do trust the establishment and expect they would not serve terrible vinegar wine. Still, you want the perfect evening to match the perfect day. This is not a decision you can take lightly.

Even if you have experience with heaps of wine, you may not know any of the wines on this list and why should you! There are thousands of wines in the world and that’s a beautiful thing

This is where the local sommelier really shines. They will (hopefully) be familiar with every single wine on the list, sometimes they would be the one sourcing the wines on the list.

Now they can ask you some questions to help narrow down the holy grail of wines that you are searching for. Here is how the interaction should go:

Somm: There are no right or wrong wine choices here, all of these wines are delightful with every meal on our menu. However, they can be even better if we consider your taste, so I would love to ask a few questions to help you make a better decision.

You: Sure

Somm: What dish did you order?

You: Spaghetti Bolonese

Somm: Do you have a preference of red or white with spaghetti bolonese?

You: No

Somm: What flavours in a wine do you look for? I love these 2 options for that dish, but if you prefer (green apple flavours or oaky flavours, etc) then I can suggest something else

Yes – ex: Red

Somm: What flavours in a red wine do you look for? I love these 2 options for that dish, but if you prefer (spice notes or oaky flavours, etc) then I can suggest something else

You get the idea. It’s about working around the person’s taste profile and giving them the best chance at finding the perfect wine for them.

** If other somms out there read this and think it could be improved, any and all comments below would be appreciated! Like anything in this world, improvements can always be made 🙂