I don’t know about you, but I can go for a glass of wine after work today. And it’s Wednesday! So that’s allowed, right?
Speaking of doing things “wrong”, as much as I enjoy tasting and learning about wine, I’m pretty sure I do a lot of it incorrectly when it comes to actually consuming it.
Decanting. I don’t own a decanter. That’s mostly because I don’t have much room for one in my typically tiny NYC apartment, but I think they’re pretty cool looking. Decanting your wine basically allows it to breathe before you drink it. They say you should decant anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours. Let’s be real, I’m not going to wait 2 hours for a bottle of wine to “breathe”, but those reds with higher tannins (Syrahs, Chiantis, Barolos), benefit from longer decantings. Also, they say decanting cheap wines is good because it improves the taste. I’m willing to give that a shot!
Chilling. We own a wine fridge that I keep our whites and rosés in, but I keep our reds in a wine rack on a bookshelf. Word on the street is whites should be served between 49-55 degrees, and reds between 62-68 degrees. I’m pretty sure our wine fridge isn’t that cold, and I know my living room gets above 70 degrees. The only thing I’m really particular about it ice cubes in my wine. In no world do I think that’s okay (although I have been known to do it in a pinch, shhh).
Drinking. I have all these wine glasses for my various wine needs. Red, White, Full-bodied Reds, Dry Whites. I don’t know. I generally just grab the bigger glasses for the reds and the smaller for the whites and pray I don’t break my new Riedel glasses whenever I use them (tiny kitchens seem to be a haven for broken glasses).
All this to say, I’m going to crack open a bottle of red, fill up a big glass at whatever temperature it’s at, and enjoy while AJ cooks dinner. Sounds like a nice way to wind down from a busy day, right? 😉
How About You?
What’s your wine drinking tip? Do you get fancy with the rules or just crack open a bottle and pour? 🙂
A bit of both really. Sometimes following the rules does provide further enjoyment and allows to appreciate the wine fully. But hey, sometimes you just want a good and easy sip to relax and share a good laugh. A tip? Published not long ago a beginner’s guide to decanting wine. Preety straight forward, and often improves the wine significantly. If I don’t have a decanter, I would sometimes just pour the bottle of wine in a jug or something, and then back into its own bottle. This allows the wine to breathe, just like using a decanter, but without one. Guide to decanting is here http://socialvignerons.com/2015/10/01/how-to-decant-wine-the-beginners-guide/ Cheers 🙂
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I think I’ll have to get myself a decanter soon and give it a try! 🙂
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