Things Learned About Drinking Wine

This is part two of two. The previous post was part one on things you learn about buying wine. This one is about enjoying the wine.

Even 300 years ago people preferred drinking with friends  :)

 
Tasting (or drinking) wine should be fun

Don't be that wine nerd who asks everybody's opinion about the wine and asks if they're picking up the guava in the nose. This isn't a competition, it's fun, but it's certainly okay to learn something from each wine you taste.

Don't fret over the wine glasses. It's most important that they are clean and free of any soap residue. The shape or the brand name is less important.

 

Wine is better with friends

Good wine is always better with good friends. You can see their reaction to the wine, you can talk about wines while drinking a great bottle. Or you can just talk about football. Or the kids. Or the dog. There's nothing better.

Wine is better with a good meal

Often having good wine in the cocktail setting with friends is great. Having wine with great friends and great food makes it doubly great. When it all comes together, it's a magical evening.

All wines don't get better with age

Boy, is this important to know if you are just starting to collect wines. Not all wines are meant to age. Very few wines get better after five or more years. Wines won't age well if you don't have the proper storage. If you liked a wine when it was young, there's no guarantee you'll like it better a few years later. If you age wines, when is the proper time to open? That is, when has it peaked? It's always a guessing game.

Give the wine time to open up

If a wine, especially a young wine, doesn't taste so great right after opening the bottle give it 20 minutes or an hour. That wine as been cooped up for a long time and needs to breathe. Some wines might even taste better the second day!

Serve at the right temperature

Wines might be stored in a cellar or the fridge. Those temps are often too cold for optimal drinking. A too cold wine mutes the aromas and flavors. A wine served too warm will be bitter. Most whites show better at a temperature in the 50s; most reds in the low 60s. Your refrigerator is probably about 38 degrees (too cold for most wine), your house 68 or higher (too warm for any wine).