How to Serve Wine

In every house with a bar, there is that one bottle of wine which has been saved for a special moment. A time where the occasion demands a good bottle of wine. In order to make the moment one that has been captured in your memory for eternity, it is important that you know to serve wine. What does this process entail? Well, when you serve wine, it is important that you understand what the proper temperature of the wine should be, you allow the wine to aerate, that you know which glasses are suitable for different types of wines, and how to pour out wine.

How to Store Wine

Before you move on to learn how to serve wine at a party or a restaurant, it is important that you understand how to store it properly. If you do not have a well-built wine cellar, then store your wine bottles in a place that is cool and shaded from sunlight. This is extremely important. Also always store wine bottles in such a manner that they lie on their side. This allows the cork of the bottle to remain moist and allows the bottle to be air-tight.

Another important thing to pay attention to is the wine serving temperature. Depending on the temperature at which it is served, the taste of the wine can differ drastically. A glass of wine, if too cold or too hot can play havoc with the wine's taste. Traditionally, different wines have different optimal temperatures that they should be served at. While convention rules that red wine be served at room temperature and white wine be served only after being chilled, this rule can be faulty as temperatures vary from place to place. This is why it is important to know what are the exact temperatures at which wines should be served. This temperature is given in the table below.

Wine Temperature
Type of Wine	Temperature
Rose Wine	51F
Red Wine	62F
White Wine	53F
Sparkling Wine	48F

Many home bar owners are also opting to buy wine refrigerators in order to serve wine at the optimal temperature. While using appropriate temperature to serve wine it is important to know that after you take a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator, it's temperature will increase by 4 F every ten minutes.

How to Serve Wine Properly

In order to serve wine, it is also important to know which glasses to use. Ideally, stay away from picking painted or colored glasses as that will take away from the elegance contributed by the color of the wine. It is also important that a wine glass always have a stem to enable a guest to hold the glass without warming the wine. Traditionally red wine should be served in a glass with a wide bowl as it needs the wide surface area which will allow it to come in contact with oxygen. White wine should be served in glasses that are shaped like the tulip, and sparkling wine should always be served in flute shaped, small glasses.

Now that you know all about the different wine glasses that you should use, let us take a look at how to open a wine bottle. In order to do this you will need a corkscrew. Once you have a corkscrew available, follow the simple steps given below to learn to serve wine.

• Use a blade to remove the foil that will be present at the top of the bottle. This is important as at no time while pouring the wine, should it come in contact with the foil.
• Next the tip of the corkscrew needs to be inserted right at the center of the cork. Start turning it clockwise in order to insert the entire corkscrew. Avoid puncturing the cork through and through as that will cause cork particles to float in the wine.
• The corkscrew comes with a small hook that you will have to use as a leverage in order to pull the cork out.

That is how easy it is to open a wine bottle. Now let us take a look at how to pour out the wine, which is the last step that you need in order to learn how to serve wine. Wine should always be poured towards the center of the glass, and you never fill the glass to the brim. In fact, always fill it only to a limit slightly lower than the widest area of the glass. This ensures that there is no spilling of wine when the guest swirls it. While pouring the wine, always cup the bottom of the bottle, and allow the neck of the bottle to rest in your forearm. The label of the bottle should never face the inside of your hand. Also as you finish pouring the wine, slightly tilt the bottle upwards, and rotate the bottle to prevent any dripping of wine.

Whether you have to serve wine in a restaurant or a party, these techniques are important when you are learning to serve wine. Remember these easy tips and you are sure never to commit a faux pas while serving wine.