How to Serve Wine Properly and Common Mistakes to Avoid

Serving wine isn't just something one might care to know in restaurants and intimate situations, but rather a classic and elegant hobby that has become engrained in our culture. There are several variances in how a person or place might serve win, but there is also some tips that should be at the forefront of every good serving. Because of this, it is a good idea to first see the common mistakes made.

For starters, a lot of individuals serve fine white wine too cold, as well as fine red wines too warm. To a person not familiar with wine, this probably does not seem like a big deal, but with this liquid subtlety is the one word that should be associated with it. With white wine being too cold or red wine being too warm, it is in essence drinking hot chocolate that's cold or a beer that is boiling. Both of those examples alter the state of its taste, and if you magnify that ten fold, one can begin to see how quickly the aromas and effect of wine can change.

It is of paramount important that the glass the wine is served in is completely clean. Soapy residue or any other foreign substances will penetrate the wine, as well as adversely affect the aromas that come from the liquid. Keep in mind that half of the wine tasting experience is the smell, as that serves as its identity. The Parker Exhale Test is when one exhales into a glass to see if the fog from your moist breath brings any residue to the surface. It is wise to clean any substances immediately.

So what of the myth about wine breathing? If you know wine at all, no doubt at some point or another a person has told you to let it breathe upon opening. In actuality, after a bottle of fine wine is open, 15-30 minutes is all that is necessary for its aroma and tastes to be at their highest level. Letting wine breathe for a long time is in almost every case a myth. While there are some wines that need to breathe six or seven hours, these are extremely rarely and usually passed down with tradition.

The size of the glasses in which you serve wine should be 8 to 12 ounces. Crystal glasses make a huge difference in the aroma and taste of a fine wine, in large part due to the fact that they can be most clean. If you rinse a crystal glass in mineral water just before pouring then you are guaranteed to have a perfect palette to enjoy.