Tips
on giving a bottle of wine. When we're going somewhere it's easy to
grab a bottle of wine off the shelf, but wouldn't it be nicer to be
able to give the matter some thought and have a label specially
designed for the special occasion, whether it's a birthday, wedding, or
just a 'thank you'? There are many companies now who offer this
facility and you will find that you'll be able to send your own message
as well as write the names of the people to whom it is intended. Next
time you're wondering which wine to buy, it's worth remembering that
nowadays most wines are best drunk young. We now prefer the
light-bodied wines rather than the heavy ones that were so popular a
few years ago and they are really best consumed within three years of
harvest (for white) and five years (for red). Keep your store of wines
away from the light and the heat.
Traveling with Wine
It's not necessary to keep
the bottles on their sides as they'll be fine standing upright for up
to a year. If you're taking your wine with you on a long journey you
should try to keep it as cool as possible. Cool bags are very useful
but, failing this, make sure that the bottles are kept out of direct
sunlight. If you're leaving your car for a period you could try putting
the bottles underneath in the shade, but it's not a good idea to forget
about them! When you eventually arrive give the bottles time to return
to room temperature before you open and consume. The barrels used for
wine storage were burned on the inside during the Middle Ages.
This
created sulphur dioxide which preserved the wine for much longer. In
very cheap wines this is still used and can bring on appalling
headaches and allergic reactions in some people (tip: it's best to
avoid cheap wines!). When you're serving a strong red wine you may find
that there's a lot of sediment. This certainly doesn't want to go into
the glass. Historically (and if you have time) these wines should be
decanted.
To do this correctly you should make sure that all
the sediment has been taken from the sides of the bottles and give it
time to settle on the bottom. This could take several days to work and
if you want to be a real perfectionist you could give it up to a couple
of weeks. When you do pour the wine into the decanter pour it very
slowly and gently and don't let any of the sediment pass through. And
the last question? Is it best to use a corkpuller (a handle with two
prongs) or a cork screw? The corkpuller will fit into your pocket and
is considered the best by most professionals as it's much quicker, but
the technique does need a lot of practice. If, however, the cork is not
tight or is plastic, a corkscrew will do a better job for you as the
pressure of the prongs with a corkpuller can easily push the cork into
the bottle.
Whatever you use, however, the important thing is
that you concentrate carefully and if the cork starts to move you
change to a corkscrew. Happy drinking!
Hannah Terry is the owner of www.cookingflair.com,
a first class resource for Cooking information on the Internet. Please visit
for more about this article and related topics.
