Wine gets better with age, and these wine tips and tricks!
Whether you simply enjoy a good bottle of wine with dinner occasionally, or are a seasoned expert with an impressive cellar collection, get the most out of your wine experience with these 5 wine tips and tricks.
1. Store your wine properly
In ideal circumstances, you would be able to store your wines in a cellar, designed to always sit at the perfect temperature. You can also invest in a wine fridge to keep your collection at an ideal temperature.
Consistency in temperature is key, and a wine stored in a place that goes from hot to cold to warm to cool won’t perform as well as one stored in a consistent temperature.
2. Know your wine’s cellar life
This will allow you to enjoy drinking it at its optimum age. You can be forgiven for getting excited and drinking wine early, but there’s nothing worse than hanging onto something for years then finally serving it when it’s brown and lifeless!
3. Serve your wine at the right temperature
Pay attention to wine’s serving temperature, because:
- hot wine will be aromatically overpowered by alcohol and dominated on the palate by heavier characteristics like tannin. The lighter characteristics – like fruit, floral, and spice – will all get lost in the heat.
- overly cold wine will literally ice your palate. Imagine holding an ice cube in your mouth then attempting to taste something; the principle with over-chilled wine is essentially the same.
You can follow the below guide to ensure you always serve your wine at the right temperature.
4. Serve your wine in the correct wine glass
Did you know that the shape and size of your glass has an impact on wine’s flavour profile?
Wine is about enjoyment, and drinking it from the right varietal glass will heighten your pleasure.
We recommend you think about what your favourite grape varieties are, both red wine and white wine. If you can’t live without Shiraz, buy some Shiraz glasses. If you go crazy for Oaked Chardonnay, purchase the right glass for it.
5. Decant it!
Decanting is a hugely important part of wine enjoyment, for both old and young wines. It’s a common misconception that decanting is used only for removing sediment from older wines, but decanting young wines is like speeding up the ageing process.
Wine contains sulphur dioxide, which protects the wine as it ages. Exposing the wine to oxygen burns off the sulphur, exposing more fruit and therefore more flavour. A decanted wine will show more character and depth.
