Serving wine 101: How to serve wine in simple steps

Picking the right glassware

Did you know that there are different types of glasses you should use depending on the type of wine you are drinking? Glassware exists in many shapes and sizes which can influence the way your wine smells and tastes.

Most wine professionals use crystal glasses since they’re lighter and make the colour of the wine look more vibrant. Unfortunately, crystal glasses are considerably pricier than glass, so try and find something that feels good in your hand and your wallet.

• Red:

  Generally speaking, a red wine will be served in a larger glass. This gives it room to breathe and allows you to fully experience its scent and flavour. Using a glass with a big surface works a bit like decanting, helping to aerate the wine.

• White & rosé:

  White wine glasses have a smaller bowl than red wine glasses. That’s because the flavours of white wines are more delicate and less concentrated than the reds, so a smaller bowl leads them undiluted to your nose. Also, generally, white wines don’t need so much contact with oxygen, so smaller bowls reduce it. Rosé wines are best enjoyed in white wine glasses since they’re similar in structure.

• Sparkling:

  Sparkling wine is usually served in a tulip-shaped glass or flute. Flutes can look great and create a steady stream of fizz, as well as preserving the bubbles in the wine. Alternatively, using white wine glasses works great in showcasing the sparkling wine aromas and preserving bubbles.

• Fortified:

  For heavy dessert wines and fortified wines such as Port, a small glass with a narrow mouth reduces the evaporation of the high alcohol wines. Lighter fortified wines, like Fino Sherry are best enjoyed with a white wine glass.

• If you use crystal glasses, check if they’re dishwasher safe.

• If possible, avoid using a Champagne coupe for non-Champagne wines as it’s hard to handle and lets all the aromas escape.

• Stemless wine glasses can be great for a casual outdoor setting, but for a true wine experience, glasses with stems are preferred as they prevent warming the wine with your hands.

• The proper wine glass will make any wine taste better!

You want to know everything about wine glasses and how to choose the right ones? Head over to our dedicated article [link to article]

Getting the temperature right

Temperature plays an important role in serving wine. If the temperature is too high, it can make the wine very heavy and not pleasant to drink; on the other hand, low temperatures can hide the wine’s flavours and make it taste really dull.

Generally, reds are served at a higher temperature than almost all other wines. Lower temperatures bring out the acidity and freshness in wines, which is desirable for white, rosé and sparkling wines, while higher temperatures enhance the aromas and make them taste smoother, so perfect for reds.

Most wines suggest ideal serving temperatures on the back label. So, if you are unsure what temperature to serve the wine at, always check the label on the bottle.

Note: Room temperature generally means 18 – 20 °C.

Opening a bottle

There are various types of wine closures, with different advantages and disadvantages. In this post, we look into the right way of opening a bottle depending on 2 types of closures: corks and screw caps.

Corks

This is the most common type of closure you will find on most wine bottles. To open this type of bottle, you will need a corkscrew.

1. Use a knife to remove the foil. Some foils can also be peeled off.
2. Put the corkscrew slightly off the centre of the cork and twist it into it until you have inserted the full length of the corkscrew.
3. Corkscrews usually have a ‘step’ in them. Use this as leverage to pull the cork out of the bottle.
4. If you are using a corkscrew with arms then simply push the arms inwards to lift the cork out and then pull it out the rest of the way.

Tip: Don’t bend the cork as it might break.

Sparkling wine corks:

Sparkling wines and Champagnes usually have a cork and a muselet (wire cage). To open this type of bottle:

1. Remove the foil
2. Untwist the wire case to loosen it. Don’t remove it completely.
3. Hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle. Be careful not to point the bottle towards any humans or animals. The cork may fly off at a very high speed.
4. Grip the cork and turn the bottle, rather than turning the cork itself.
5. The cork will loosen and start to ease out of the bottle, eventually popping. The smaller the pop, the more bubbles will be preserved in the wine.

Decanting wine

Decanting wine is the process of pouring wine from a bottle into another glass vessel, making sure not to transfer any wine sediments. Decanters can take many forms and vary heavily in price. The decanter is then used to serve wine, instead of the original wine bottle. But why should we do this?

There are a few reasons some wines should be decanted.

• Wine is decanted to remove any sediment that has formed at the bottom of the wine bottle due to long bottle ageing (particularly true for red wines).
• During decanting, the wine is allowed to “breathe” via the process of aeration, which brings out the wine aromas and flavours, while by softening the tannis.
• Corks can often detitorite, which means some parts may fall into the wine, so decanting will help to filter out such bits.

Pouring wine

The size of the pour is different with every glass. The general rule is to fill up the glass 1/3 of the way. This allows the aromas to shine and makes swirling easier.

Here are the steps needed to to pour wine properly:

1. Hold the bottle from the base, and guide it with your other hand.
2. When pouring any wine, fill the glass to only 1/3 of the volume. Sparkling wine should be poured slowly to avoid excess fizz. Start by pouring a small amount into the flute, letting it settle and then pouring until the glass is three-quarters full.
3. When you’ve finished pouring, twist the bottle and wipe the top with a towel to avoid drips.
4. Re-pour with the same wine, when the glass is almost empty.
5. Make sure the glass is empty when pouring a different wine.

• Rinsing the glasses with water between wines will only dilute the next wine. Try using that wine for a rinse, or don’t rinse at all, if the styles are similar.
• After soaping the glasses, rinse them very well to remove all the soap scent, as it can really affect your next wine tasting experience.

Holding the glass

If you have a glass with a stem, hold it towards the base of the stem, avoiding the touch of the glass bowl. Use your thumb and forefinger and to hold the glass and let the others rest on the base of the wine glass. Using this technique prevents your body temperature from heating up the wine. It also makes it easier to swirl the glass and get all these awesome wine flavours!

If using a stemless glass, simply hold it normally. Swirling your glass will aerate the wine, allowing the aromas and flavours to open up, so go ahead and swirl it.