As I’m sure you know, wine is not your typical alcoholic beverage. It is delicate and sensitive, and requires a little more attention than most. With that being said, we don’t think that means wine should be complicated or inaccessible. Whether it’s the first bottle you’ve ever purchased, or you want to revisit the wine basics, we’ve created a simple handbook for you to learn more about storing and serving wine properly. If anything, we hope to enhance that first sip moment and make it the most enjoyable part of your day.
People often ask, “How long should I keep this wine?” If you don’t drink your wine right away, that’s ok! So, here are a few tips to store your wine in the meantime:
Temperature
The rule of thumb is to keep your wine in a cool, dark place (approximately 45-65°F). White wine should be refrigerated if it will be consumed in the near future, otherwise, there are a variety of ways to store your wine.
Humidity can also affect the wine. It is important and optimal to keep the humidity between 50%-80%. If kept at this sweet spot, you will prevent the wine cork from obtaining musty characteristics and keep the wine from drying out due to low humidity.
Case Box
It is fine to store wine in the original case it came in. It’s best to store the wine upside down in the box so the cork will stay moist.
Wine Rack
This is one of the easiest, and most fashionable ways to store your wine. Using a wine rack allows the wine to lay on its side, thus ensuring the cork stays moist –
preventing the cork from drying out and allowing oxygen inside. Be sure your wine rack is located in a cool, and preferably dark, location. Avoid locations like the kitchen counter or bookshelf that might experience varying temperatures throughout the day and have exposure to direct sunlight.
Wine Fridge
A wine fridge is great for storing your wine at a consistent temperature over a long period of time. With the wine fridge, you can set the wine on its side, control the humidity, and protect the wine from natural light. Overall, the temperature of the fridge should hover around 50°F.
Corks are often used as a method to encapsulate wine because they regulate the amount of oxygen in the bottle, allowing the wine to age properly. Corks should allow a very small amount of oxygen transfer into the bottle per year (approximately one milligram of oxygen to be exact).
When your bottle is at the desired age, you can open your bottle using any of the following methods.
Corkscrew / Wine Key
A wine key can easily fit in your pocket and is typically how the waiter opens your bottle at the restaurant. First, you cut the foil under the lip, circling twice. Remove the top of the foil capsule and insert the pointed end of the screw into the cork. Twist the corkscrew into the cork until the boot lever notch can sit on the lip of the bottle nicely. Hold the boot lever notch on the lip and then lever the handle up to pull the cork up. While doing this, make sure to have one hand on the bottle. Use the screw to pull the cork about halfway out and then pull the cork the rest of the way out with your hand.
Wing Corkscrews
Cut the foil under the lip of the bottle, removing the foil from the neck of the bottle. Place the worm of the screw over the top of the bottle and twist the screw into the cork. Twist the screw until the wings of the corkscrew rise all the way to the top. Once the wings have both risen, push them down simultaneously with both hands to lift the cork out of the bottle.
Electric Corkscrews
Start by cutting the foil around the lip of the bottle. Take the foil off of the bottle and place the electric corkscrew vertically over the neck of the bottle. Turn the device on and hold it upwards as it automatically inserts the worm and removes the cork. Once fully removed, take the corkscrew off the bottle. Reverse the corkscrew motion to take the cork off of the device.
After opening your bottle of wine, there are two chemical reactions that take place that cause your wine to rapidly age. One explanation of this is acetic acid bacteria which consumes the alcohol in the wine, causing the wine to have a vinegar-like aroma. Secondly, an opened bottle of wine experiences alcohol oxidation, resulting in a nutty, stagnant fruit taste. Cooler storing temperatures will slow down both of these two reactions.
Life of Open Wine
All open white wine should be refrigerated. Light white wine and Rosés that have been opened typically last in the fridge for five to seven days, while full-bodied whites (i.e. chardonnay) should only be left in the fridge with a cork for three to five days.
The rule of thumb for red wine that has been opened is to keep it for up to three days in a cool, dark place. If you don’t have a wine fridge to keep your wine in, it is a good idea to place your opened wine bottle in your kitchen refrigerator if your house gets warmer than 70°F.
Preserving Open Bottles
Unfortunately, once a bottle is opened the wine begins to age very quickly. Here are a few tips to ensure your wine stays fresh as long as possible after opening:
Want to enjoy a glass tonight, and one next week? Sounds like a job for the Coravin wine preserver! The Coravin is a great tool to have on hand so you can enjoy a full bottle of wine at your leisure, and without wasting wine. The Coravin is a hollow needle that punctures the cork and injects argon gas into the bottle. The argon replaces the wine that is being poured out and preserves the wine left in the bottle. Once the device is removed, the cork will naturally reseal itself.
One of the best aspects of enjoying wine is the way in which you serve it! Here are a few tips and tricks you can keep in your back pocket for those entertaining moments:
Decanting
Decanting wine is a great way to enhance a wine’s flavor. With wine being bottled up for years, decanting is a good practice for any wine that benefits from aging. By exposing the wine to fresh air, the wine has a chance to breathe, opening up the flavors and aromas. Decanting can also help to separate the wine from the sediment that can sometimes build up while in storage.
When decanting a mature wine, you want to slowly pour the bottle, allowing the wine to gently fall down the walls of the decanter. This technique will carefully aerate the wine.
Aerating
Aerators are quite similar to decanters because they both aim to expose the wine to oxygen. By exposing the wine to oxygen, the scents and aromas become more present when tasting the wine. Different from a decanter, an aerator is generally a spout that is placed on the lip of the wine bottle. You should use an aerator on younger red wines that are big, bold, and hold a generous amount of tannic structure. The aerator will help to soften the tannins in the wine and allow the fruit to shine through.
Chilling
The temperature at which you drink your wine is going to have a significant impact on your experience. For the best experience possible, the lighter the wine, the cooler the temperature. Sparkling wines and light-bodied whites can be enjoyed between 38-45°F. Full-bodied whites and Rosés should be “fridge cold,” between 45- 55°F. Light to medium-bodied reds should be cool, about 55-60°F, and big, bold reds should be enjoyed at a temperature between 60-68°F.
When serving a white wine, make sure to put your bottle in the fridge several hours beforehand to have it cold when guests arrive or when you are ready to enjoy. When it is time to serve your wine, you can either use an ice bucket or a wine chiller to keep your wine cool and in sight for easy access.
Types of Wine Glasses
Did you know that there is a particular wine glass for almost every varietal? If you are a connoisseur, this is definitely something to strive for. If you are an everyday lover of a casual and classic glass of wine, a glass for whites and a glass for reds is a great place to start.
Generally speaking, reds should be enjoyed in a larger, more wide, wine glass. A wider glass allows the tannins to smooth out before drinking. White wine should be enjoyed in a smaller, more narrow wine glass. The smaller the glass, the cooler the wine will stay and the better natural acidities will be maintained. Generally, white wine produces more floral scents, which are best enjoyed close to the nose.
Stemmed versus stemless? The choice is yours! Stemless wine glasses are a great option to use when casually enjoying a glass at home or outside on your patio.
Proper Amount to Pour
One serving of wine consists of five ounces. Sure, but what does this look like when I pour my wine? A good rule of thumb is to pour your wine to the widest part of the glass. Generally, the widest part of the glass denotes the five ounces level. You should get five glasses of wine out of one bottle (there are 25.3 ounces of wine in a standard 750ml bottle).
We’ve made it! It’s finally time to enjoy your lovely, much-anticipated glass of wine. And you deserve it. It can sometimes seem like quite the journey to get to the “enjoying” part, but with this handbook, we hope your next wine experience will be both memorable and fun.
Holding the Glass
If you want to look like a wine pro, make sure to hold your wine glass by the stem! When holding your wine by the stem, you keep your wine at an optimal temperature and prevent any smudges or handprints around the bowl. With white wine, this is especially important because your hand can quickly warm the wine in the glass.
Cheers
… to wine etiquette! With this final step, you should be a master in all things storing and serving wine.
Contrary to popular belief, you should never clink with the rim of your wine glass. The rim of the wine glass is thin and is very easy to break. Instead, tilt the rim of the glass slightly towards your body and clink with the barrel of your wine glass. Make sure your glass isn’t full to the brim and be gentle when going in for the cheers. Trust us on this one!
Now that you have all the tools necessary to be a wine storing and serving professional, we hope you have a newfound confidence and love for preparing the perfect glass of wine. Remember, wine should be fun. Enjoy the journey to that first sip moment.
