I want to drink wine, but wine seems difficult. For you, we will explain wine etiquette in detail. Knowing wine etiquette will help you enjoy wine more and make your food even more delicious. Please remember wine etiquette and have a fun time with your meal.
Last time, we explained wine etiquette at a restaurant. In Part 4, we will talk about etiquette when pouring wine and when you are the one serving the wine.
Etiquette when pouring wine
In casual restaurants without a sommelier, we may pour our own wine. You may also serve wine at parties. For times like these, let's learn some etiquette when pouring wine.
Order of pouring wine
If you're at a casual restaurant and pouring your own wine, let the man do the pouring. It is bad manners for a woman to hold a bottle and pour wine. The order of pouring is from the ladies first. If there is more than one woman, pour the water in order, starting with the oldest woman. And then there are the men. The same goes for seniority.
Precautions when pouring wine
You don't have to imitate the way sommeliers pour wine by placing their thumb in the indentation at the bottom of the bottle and supporting the bottle with their remaining four fingers. If you hold it in an unfamiliar way, you may spill the wine or drop the bottle. If you don't feel comfortable holding it with one hand, you can use both hands. Hold the bottle firmly. When holding the bottle, hold it so that the label is visible.
When pouring wine, avoid touching the glass with the bottle.
And don't pour too much wine into your glass. Wine glasses have the role of preserving the aroma of wine. If you pour too much wine, the aroma won't be able to stay in the glass. It also makes it difficult to swirl the glass to open up the aroma. Aim for it to be slightly below the fullest part of the bowl. The amount should be about 1/3 to 1/4 of the entire glass.
Wine is a delicate drink. When pouring, pour slowly rather than vigorously. This will also prevent the wine from spilling or overfilling.
If you're pouring wine for multiple people, make sure the amount is roughly the same.
It is convenient and smart to put a paper or cloth napkin on the bottle so that you can wipe it up if it drips. If you don't have a napkin, twist the bottle slightly to prevent it from dripping. Be careful not to stain the label with drippings.
After pouring, place it on the table so that the front of the label is visible.
Also, sparkling wine creates bubbles when poured, so if you try to pour it all at once, it will overflow. You can pour it well by pouring it in two parts. For sparkling wine, fill the glass about two-thirds full.
Etiquette when refilling wine
You can refill the wine after the glass is empty or when there is still some wine left in the glass. In England, wine is poured after the glass is empty, and in France, wine is poured a little before it is empty. In Japan, either is fine.
However, you need to be a little careful when refilling the wine. The aroma and taste of wine change when exposed to air, so some people enjoy leaving a little wine in the glass. If you add wine to a glass you're drinking while enjoying the change, you may end up feeling uncomfortable. Please give a shout and then pour more.
glass basics
The glass you pour wine into is actually very important. If you need to prepare wine glasses for a party, etc., what kind of glasses should you choose?
Sparkling wine is best served in a long, flute-shaped glass. If you want to enjoy the aroma of champagne, etc., a tulip-shaped glass with a slight bulge will allow the aroma to flow out.
For white wine, a moderately shaped and sized glass with a slightly tapered rim is best. If it's too big, the delicate aroma of white wine will be lost and the temperature will rise easily.
For red wine, Bordeaux- and Burgundy-shaped glasses are common. Bordeaux-shaped glasses are slightly larger and taller. As the name suggests, it is suitable for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines. On the other hand, the Burgundy type has a more rounded bowl. It brings out the aroma of wines with rich aromas, such as Pinot Noir from Burgundy.
wine temperature
Even if you have the right glass for your wine, it will be a waste if the wine is not at the right temperature. When hosting a home party or other entertaining event, be careful about the temperature of the wine.
When wine is cooler, it has more acidity and feels fresher and cleaner. When the temperature is high, the astringency becomes mellower and the sweetness increases. Also, the higher the temperature, the more the scent will be felt.
The optimum temperature for sparkling wine is 6 to 8 degrees, white wine is around 10 degrees, light-bodied red wine is 12 to 14 degrees, and full-bodied red wine is 16 to 20 degrees.
It is often said that ``white wine should be chilled and red wine should be kept at room temperature,'' but in hot summers or in heated rooms in winter, the temperature may be higher than the appropriate temperature. If the room temperature is high, let red wine cool slightly in the refrigerator before serving.
If you forget to chill sparkling or white wine at a home party, etc., you can chill it in about 20 minutes by placing the wine bottle in a wine cooler filled with ice water, which is faster than putting it in the refrigerator. At that time, adding about 1 tablespoon of salt to the brine will lower the freezing point and allow you to chill the wine even faster, in about 15 minutes.
If you put it in the freezer, you run the risk of damaging the jar if you forget. Sparkling wine in particular may explode, so avoid putting it in the freezer. If you really want to do it, it's a good idea to set a timer for 15 minutes so you don't forget.
How to store wine
Even if the glass and serving temperature are perfect, the wine you're serving still needs to be in order. Learn how to store wine in case you want to take it to a party, restaurant, or serve it at a home party.
When storing wine, the following points should be kept in mind:
・No vibration
・No light
- Constant temperature and cool
・A place without strong odors
Refrigerators are not suitable for long-term storage because they vibrate and can pick up food odors.
People often think that a closet is a good place to store wine because it doesn't get any light, but the temperature can get high in the summer. If the temperature exceeds 30 degrees, the wine will deteriorate. The optimum temperature for storing wine is around 15 degrees.
Ideally, it would be best to store wine in a wine cellar, but it can be expensive and some people may not have a place to store it. For such people, one option is to find the most suitable place in the house, such as storage under the floor, or to put them in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator only during the hot summer months.
summary
When you're in charge of pouring wine or entertaining guests with wine, once you get used to it, it's not difficult. The next and final installment will be about wine etiquette at events.
