How to store and serve wine

How to serve a wine, when you have a cellar, when you don't, and how to store an opened bottle?

? Preparing and serving your wine properly may seem like a trivial gesture, but it's of vital importance if you are to enjoy your nectar to the full. A few precautions and gestures are essential. Proper temperature control, opening the bottle beforehand and tasting to check that the wine is not corked, decanting... These are just some of the things you need to anticipate and plan for in order to extract the maximum quality from your wine.

> Access to the cellar

  

I don't have a cellar at home. What should I do?

If you don't have a cellar, you'll automatically go and buy your bottle from your wine merchant or from us (on a website). Try to anticipate your purchase in order to give your bottle a little rest. A wine needs to stabilize and reach the right room temperature, so you don't rush it or break it.
Here's the only thing that's different for someone with a cellar at home: you just have to choose your bottle carefully beforehand, so that you can keep it at home for at least 24 hours before tasting it.
For red wines, room temperature is ideal. For white wines, place the bottle vertically in the fridge, so that it reaches the right freshness.

 

I have a cellar at home. What should I do?

This time, you have a cellar at home. You're lucky enough to have all the bottles you like to hand. But be careful, because this also means that you'll be tempted to prepare your bottle just before your guests arrive. Big mistake! Wine needs to be brought to room temperature. That's why, if you're tasting a red wine, it's important to take the bottle out of the cellar a day before tasting, and stand it upright, either in the kitchen or in the room where the wine is to be drunk. This will allow the wine to come up to temperature, as it's difficult to taste wines between 11 and 14 degrees Celsius when they leave the cellar. If your choice is a white wine, you can leave it upright in your wine cabinet and take it out 3 hours before drinking to put it in the fridge to cool down a little.

 

 

How to serve a white wine

The first mistake people make with white wine is to serve it too chilled. As explained above, putting it in the fridge for a few hours will refresh it. But be careful with temperature: a white wine should ideally be served at 11 degrees Celsius, to ensure a fresh mouthfeel without breaking all the aromas. You'll see that your wine warms up gently in your glass, at which point the aromas will be a little more expressive, but on the other hand, the alcohol will appear on the nose and palate. The second mistake people make with white wines is to think they don't need oxygenation. So, of course, if you're enjoying a wine for pleasure as an aperitif, there's nothing to stop you opening it and enjoying it straight away. But if you're tasting a fine white wine from Burgundy, Bordeaux or other regions, your wine, if young, will need to be decanted to oxygenate and release all its aromas (in the same way as red wines). The act of decanting a white wine is not an easy one, as few people have a white wine decanter (I recommend you look on the Internet for decanters with a bubble blown inside, so you can put ice cubes in them and have your decanter ready for the table). If you don't have a decanter, it's possible to open your bottle and put it in an ice bucket, because if you leave it in the fridge, it can take on the aromas and smells of what's inside. All it takes is some fish or cheese, and that can spoil your wine.

 

How to enjoy a red wine

The process is the same as for white wines. A good temperature setting is necessary to enjoy your wine. Light, fruity red wines can be served slightly chilled if necessary, at a temperature of 14 degrees. These wines don't usually need to be decanted, as they provide immediate pleasure with fruit notes. If you're about to enjoy a red wine that's a little more mature, you'll need to prepare it well. You can decant your wine if it's less than 8 years old (we're being general here, but every wine has its own needs). Decanting for 2 hours is generally sufficient to open up a young wine. If you're about to enjoy a slightly older wine, we recommend opening the bottle an hour beforehand, tasting it and deciding whether to decant, leave the bottle open as it is to allow the wine to air slightly, or replace the cork to prevent the wine from becoming too oxygenated.

 

How to store an opened bottle?

Whether your wine is white or red, if you haven't finished your bottle, there are several ways to preserve it. There are special corks to remove the air from your bottle and prevent it from spoiling too much. This is surely the most effective method. The second solution is to naturally close your bottle with the cork and put it in the fridge (even red wines). The wine's solids will contract, allowing it to keep a little longer. The only drawback to this method is that, once again, you need to anticipate consumption, otherwise you'll be drinking a very chilled red wine, which isn't very pleasant.

 

So you have a few keys to drinking your bottles well. The golden rule is to anticipate. Anticipate purchases, anticipate temperature control and anticipate bottle opening. Remember that wine is rarely opened too early.
Enjoy!