How many bottles of wine have you opened in your lifetime? Hundreds? Thousands?
You know the drill, pull the cork and pour a glass
But both how you store your wine and how you serve it can really impact how the wine tastes.
There are some simple tips that will help make sure every bottle of wine is served at its best.
Diego discovered one of these important tips at Charles Heidsieck in Champagne.
I'm here with Sophie Kutten brand ambassador. Hi, Sophie. How are you? Hi Diego, I'm fine
What do you think about having a glass of champagne? About trying this cuvee rose.
Lets do it!
Ok, to open it, turn the bottle. You don't turn your hand there.
And not a big noise, you have to hear a sigh. See.
Thats amazing.
Sante Diego.
But before you've even popped the cork on any wine, it's important to know how long it's been waiting patiently
Developing its aromas and flavors.
Stephanie went to Smith Haut Lefitte in Bordeaux to understand how wines are stored and aged before they're even put into a bottle.
So you just actually recently harvested, the grapes that have just been collected and they're gonna go into the wine.
Is this a wine I could drink next year?
Our wines,
You won't be able to drink them the year after, as they are being aged in our cellars for two years.
In oak. Yeah, so it's already two years old, but depending on the years. I think it's better to leave it
Five, six, ten years. That's at its best and then there's no limits.
Depends on how you keep the wines, if you have a cellar, if you leave it in the sun or you know,
something cool, depends, depends on how you keep it.
Because the wines alive?
Of course the wines alive in the bottles, yes. Definitely.
We've all heard that some wines improve with age,
But are there any strict rules about exactly when you should drink fine wines.
Cheba got straight to the point with the president of Remoissenet in Burgundy to find out if you're ever in danger of drinking Burgundy wines too soon.
How do you know when you've opened the red or white Burgundy too soon?
Well that's a really easy question to answer because there is no too soon.
with red or white Burgundy. The greatness of Burgundy is that you can have great pleasure
opening and drinking a white or red Burgundy at any age.
There is no too soon.
As your knowledge develops,
You'll realize that laying down some wines to age changes them in different ways
And when you decide to drink them really depends on your personal taste.
Diego spoke about the taste curve of ageing wines with the president of Deutz the Grand Marque Champagne house.
So how do we know that champagne is ready?
It also subjective, you know when we release it
We are still in the primary aromas
And then any type of wine will develop this secondary aromas, tertiary aromas with the years.
So after that it's a matter of the personal taste.
So I would recommend that you buy, not one bottle, but many bottles. Then you can taste after we release it,
one bottle every year and then probably you find that you will make your
your choice or your your opinion by yourself.
So what are the golden rules when it comes to storing and serving wine one?
Wines with cork should be stored horizontally in a cool dry place and away from bright lights.
Screw cap wines need not be lying down.
White and rose wines both still and sparkling should be served at a temperature of between six and twelve degrees.
Leave still wine in the fridge for roughly one hour to get it to this temperature,
or two hours for sparkling wine, which has a thicker bottom.
Three, red wine should be served between 15 and 18 degrees, a cool room temperature.
Although some lighter reds can be served even cooler.
Serving wine at the correct temperature can really help unlock all of those aromas and flavours.
Four, decanting is recommended for younger wines to help them breathe or for older wines to remove sediment.
Decanting a wine will aerate it allowing the aromas to properly develop.
Five, when it comes to serving a good wine, the glass is really important. Good wine glasses have a few things in common,
they are made of clear glass or crystal
have a stem to hold, a neck that's narrower than the bowl and should be big enough to give your wine space to breathe.
Different styles of wine also demand different types of glassware for optimal drinking.
The Champagne the narrow flute is now out of favour with many producers and wine critics. Use a white wine glass
instead to make sure that aromas can collect in the glass and you can get the maximum flavour from your fizz.
For red Bordeaux that traditional glass is a tulip,
a tulip is the standard shape that works
well for any type of wine or even beer for that matter.
It just means that the body is wider than the neck.
For Burgundy, we recommend a wider bowl to allow its delicate aromas to flourish.
And what about the most important bit of the process, how to taste your wines?
Learning to taste like a pro is perhaps the best way to get the maximum appreciation of your wines.
Colour, as red wine aged as it will get lighter while white wines will get darker and tend to be more golden.
Although oak will also have the same effect on white wines.
Hold your glass over a white background to judge the colour of the wine.
Swirl, swirling your wine aerates the liquid and sets the aromas free.
Look for the legs or tears of liquid that run down the inside of the glass,
the slower they flow may indicate a higher alcohol or sugar content, but they have no bearing on quality.
Nose
You need to smell the wine.
Don't be afraid to get your nose right into the glass as this is the best way to detect all of the aromas.
What can you smell?
Fruit, flowers or herbs? Wines can develop many incredibly different aromas,
from cherries or caramel to tobacco or mushrooms.
Taste, as you taste the wine
hold it in your mouth and suck some air in, then swirl the wine around your mouth to coat your whole palate to taste the
secondary flavors before you swallow it.
Flavours.
Finally, what flavours can you taste? Is the wine energetic and refreshing or complex and rich?
Acidity in the wine will make your mouth water while high alcohol content brings a richness to the wine
and if it's a red wine consider the tannins too, those bitter flavours that give a dryness in your mouth and
originate from the skins and seeds of the grapes.
Many bottles of fine wine travel thousands of miles in the hope of finding someone that will appreciate the amazing craftsmanship
stories and
painstaking time and effort that has gone into making it.
Your job is simple though.
Store your wine carefully,
Serve it at the right temperature,
Pour it into a good glass,
and most importantly enjoy it!