WineToursEurope.com is all about enjoying wine and all things connected with those lovely precious grapes that gave their life for our enjoyment and pleasure, for awakening all our senses and for leaving such a pleasant taste on the palate that it begs for more. It is hoped that the journey here will be inviting, rewarding, fun, and educational all at the same time. To your health and mine!
With wine and hope, anything is possible.
~ Spanish Proverb
FREE Wine Tips:
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Quick and Easy Wine Chilling Technique
Using a bucket, fill ¾ full of ice mixed with water. Bury the bottle of wine in the ice and allow to chill for 30 minutes. Although wine can also be chilled in the refrigerator, it would take up to 3 hours to chill to a recommended serving temperature.
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Recommended Temperatures for Serving Wine
Generally speaking, serve red wines slightly cooler than room temperature (think cool wine cellars, about 60-65 degrees) and serve white wine chilled. However, a young fruity red can benefit from a 15-minute chill. Serving wines too warm produces wines that taste unbalanced, emphasizing the alcohol. Serving wines too cold supresses their flavours and aromas. Remember that the way a wine tastes and smells is affected by the serving temperature. Lower temperatures: sharpen tannins and acidity, at the same time subduing the aromas. Higher temperatures: de-emphasize tannins and acidity, at the same time enhancing the aromas.
Serving wine - optimal temperature guidelines:
Light-bodied sweet dessert wines : 41-50° F (5-10° C)
White sparkling wines : 43-50° F (6-10° C)
Rosé wines : 45-55° F (7-13° C)
Aromatic, light-bodied wines : 46-54° F (8-12° C)
Red, sparkling wines : 50-54° F (10-12° C)
Medium-bodied white wines : 50-54° F (10-12° C)
Full-bodied dessert wines : 46-54° F (8-12° C)
Light-bodied red wines : 50-54° F (10-12° C)
Full-bodied white wines : 54-61° F (12-16° C)
Medium-bodied red wines : 57-63° F (14-17° C)
Full-bodied red wines : 59-64° F (15-18° C)
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Letting your Wine Breathe
For optimum breathing, certain wines require maximum exposure to the surrounding air. This aerating allows wine to be warmed, which in turn releases its bouquet and gives the sense that the tannins soften, creating a smoother wine. Wines that need to breathe are usually the reds. That being said, a few select whites also benefit from this. For most wines, 15-20 minutes of exposure to air is adequate. A young wine however, requires about an hour for aeration to bring out its flavours, subtleties, and complexities. Mature wines should be decanted immediately before serving in order to keep the flavour intact.
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Aerate
It is not sufficient to simply uncork and let breathe. This is because the narrow bottle neck restricts the amount of air being allowed into the bottle to blend with the wine. This is where either a decanter or a suitable wine glass comes into play. With the decanter, use one with a wide opening at the top for ease of pouring. Keep in mind that increasing the exposed surface area of the wine will enable it to better react to the air. Enabling a wine to breathe by decanting it is akin to swirling in a glass, thereby jostling the molecules to release the various aromas.
Wine can also be poured directly into a wine glass for it to breathe. The only stipulation with this method is that the wine needs to rest in peace, away from the hubbub - certainly away from the kitchen. For proper aeration using this method, ensure that the wine is poured into the center of the glass with a wine "fall" of about 6-10 inches. While some espouse decanting only certain wines, other wine pundits recommend decanting any and all wines.
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Glasses
It can be a baffling and sometimes daunting task when it comes to hunting for the right wine glasses. There are numerous styles and sizes on the market and believe it or not, they all serve a different purpose. To some wine aficionados, it would be considered sacrilegious to serve a merlot in a chardonnay glass and vice versa. Three to four different sizes would be an adequate start to building a wine glass "collection." Wine glasses should be large enough to swirl and oxygenate the wine. Wine glasses should not be filled more than one third of the way up. The purpose of a wine stem is not to best show off your fine crystal or to raise the wine up higher for better aeration but rather to prevent your hand from heating up the wine.
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Cork Breakage
All is not lost if a cork should break whilst uncorking a bottle of wine. Try to dislodge the cork as best you can but if that proves futile, then simply push the cork into the bottle and strain the wine into a decanter.
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Wine Serving Suggestion
Here are ways to choose and pour wine like a pro:
- Yellow gold shades in white wine can indicate an oaky flavor.
- Orange or brick tones in red wine can indicate maturity.
- A dry brittle cork indicates poor storage.
- A wide bottom carafe will help your wine breathe.
- Store wine on its side with the label side up.
- Don't store wine in the kitchen where it will be affected by heat.
- White wine needs to breathe and should stand at room temperature for around 30 minutes before pouring.
- Only dessert wine and champagne should be served extra cold.
- The best time for wine tasting is in the morning when the palate is fresh.
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Wine Storage Tips
Place wine in the coolest part of your cellar, keeping wine off the floor
Choose a dark, quiet place with a constant temperature
In homes or apartments where there are no cellars, store wine in the coolest closet. A north wall is best as it rarely receives direct sunlight but check wines after some months of storage.
Avoid variations in temperatures
Avoid direct sunlight and vibrations
Purchase a wine cooler cabinet
Store bottles on their sides to keep corks moist.
Note: Wine generally matures better and more slowly at lower temperatures
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Wine Fact
Icewine or eiswein in German came about by accident. In the late 1700s, a German wine producer found that his grapes had frozen on the vine before harvesting and being afraid that he would lose his entire crop, he decided to press juice from the frozen fruit. The result was the most delicious sweet Icewine. By the mid-1800s, in Germany's Rheingau region, this "accident" became an intentional production. Following this, more than 100 years later, Canadian ice wine was made. This began the exponential growth since the late 1900s to the point where Canada is now the world's largest producer of ice wine.
Ice wine is a sweet rich dessert wine that is known for its full body and fruity taste and aroma. But unlike other dessert wines, it has a refreshing dry finish balanced by sweetness and acidity, which comes from the fact that with much of the water in the grapes being frozen, the juice pressed out is therefore intensely flavourful with a high sugar and acid content.
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Wine Trivia
Q: From which wine region in Canada does some of the best Icewine come?
A: The Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada.
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Buzzwords & winespeak
Sediment -Wine sediment is not an indication that you've purchased an inferior wine or a sign that the cork failed and let air into the bottle but rather it's the solid residue that settles at the bottom of the wine bottle. Sediment is also a sign that wine has been properly cellared or aged. In fact, it may indicate a wine of superior quality. It is quite harmless when consumed although the taste can be a bit harsh. This is where decanting comes into play as it separates the wine from the sediment, although the sediment ought to settle properly at the bottom of the bottle before transferring to a decanter.
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Featured Wine
ICEWINE - What pairs well with Icewine? Cheeses, desserts, coffees, chocolate, members of the squash family, spicy or peppery foods such as curries, stir-fried, and Thai food.
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Cocktail Recipe:
PROSECCO Cocktail - This deep red velvety-looking concoction is the perfect Christmas drink.
1/2 cup water
2 whole cloves
6 juniper berries, crushed
zest of 1/2 lime, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 teaspoons honey
1-inch piece of a cinnamon stick
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, or sweeten to taste
2-1/2 cups chilled Prosecco or other sparkling wine (about a 750-ml bottle)
Before you throw away the ingredients that remain after you've strained the infusion; if you decide you want the cocktail stronger, you can return the strained ingredients to the infusion and let it steep a bit longer.
In a small saucepan bring water to a boil and remove pan from heat. Add cloves, juniper berries, zest, honey, and cinnamon stick and cool infusion. Pour infusion through a fine sieve into a blender. Add berries, brown sugar, and ice and blend until smooth. Force purée through fine sieve into a small bowl. Covered and chilled, the purée keeps, up to 4 days.
In each of 5 Champagne flutes, stir together 3 tablespoons of the berry purée and 1/2 cup Prosecco.
Makes 5 cocktails. CinCin!
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