How to drink wine the professional way

I often see lots of people just grabbing that glass full of a perfectly good wine and drinking it like they have been on a desert without any water for 2 days. This drink is made to be drank quietly. If someone pays good money for a bottle of wine they should experience the most of it, otherwise a beer or a juice is more than enough. For me that’s the main reason that separates wine from many other drinks, that exciting feeling of something new and unexpected after opening every bottle and giving it that first sniff, that search for the perfect blend of varieties in order to give you that indescribable emotion. Off course not everyone wants the all package experience but even so if you try and taste a wine this way I'm sure you'll see the difference.

Let’s start from the beginning. Different types of wine should be served at different temperatures White wines are usually drank young and they are made to be consumed at cold temperatures around 10ºC. In the other hand red wines, more complex and with more structure need higher temperature to show all their potential and so they should be served at temperatures of around 17ºC. Sparkling wines should also be drank fresh at temperatures of 9ºC. Port wines should be consumed at temperatures resembling red wines, so around 16ºC

Ok the wine is at the perfect temperature we are now ready to open the bottle. When removing the cork be sure to have a good corkscrew because it’s important not to break the cork and some of it falling inside the bottle. After removing the cork don’t throw it out, you can re use it if any wine remains in the bottle in the end. The next step to take is to smell the side of the cork in contact with the wine. This can give you an idea of any bad odor or if the wine has a fault called TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) and has a characteristic smell of mould or wet dog.

Ok so now you’ve got the wine on the glasses, but not just any glasses. Wine glasses are different from your average glass as they have a stem specially for picking them up and the bowl has a design that’s made to improve your understanding of the aromas and color of the wine. Grasp the glass by the stem to avoid placing your hand on the bowl and warming up the wine. The bowl is perfect for stirring up the wine without spilling has you need to this to smell the secondary aromas.

Examine the color in front of a white surface to improve its visibility. White wines have colors from light green to dark yellow and red wines colors can be dark red when young and with time tend to lose a bit of color. Then give it a first sniff to capture the primary aroma given by the less denser molecules and compounds. Stir the wine a couple of times to let those secondary aromas step out. These more complex aromas are a result of the denser and bigger molecules, usually called bouquet.

Ok finally it’s time to taste it. Give a sip and let the wine go linger on the taste buds. Take the time to enjoy until swallowing it. As you swish it around the mouth you’ll see this will give you totally different sensations as the wine passes through different parts of the tongue. Take a moment to appreciate all the flavors and aromas as well as the time it takes for the wine to disappear from your mouth, this is called persistency and is given by the body of a wine. Wines with more body are wines with more tannins and phenolic compounds. With time and experience you’ll start to associate certain varieties with a specific aroma and flavor and start to realize what different vinification processes can do to the final result of a wine.