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Have Some Fun | Entertaining With Our Wines | Event Calendar | Concierge | Photo Gallery | Wine 101 | Our Newsletter
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Welcome to the Wilson Family Wine Cellar
in a bad glass." -Evelyn Waugh |
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Glassware 101 (back to top)
Drinking good wine requires good glasses. These tips for using glassware are adapted from The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil (Workman Publishing), one of the best sources for learning about wine and increasing your enjoyment of wine.
- Only buy wineglasses you can afford to break. If you spend $50 per glass it means you will never use them, so buy less expensive glasses that you can enjoy.
- Buy more glasses than you need. Glasses do break. Besides, there may be times when you want to serve two different Cabernets side by side for comparison.
- Consider buying one great style of wineglass that can be used for both red and white wines. It's simply nonsense that white wine should be served in smaller glasses. A well-designed wineglass should have an ample bowl that gives the flavors room in which to evolve. Closer to the rim, however, the bowl should narrow, forcing the aromas to be focused toward your nose. Experienced wine drinkers say that the most important thing about a wineglass is that it be open at the top.
- Buy glasses that are absolutely clear and smooth. Clear glasses show off the depth and richness of the wine's color. Colored and/or cut glass may be beautiful, but you cannot see the wine.
- Make sure the glass has a thin rim so that the wine glides over it easily and you don't feel as if you have to chew on the glass to get the wine. Imagine drinking wine out of a mason jar! The wine would jump right over the front of your tongue, and all those taste buds would miss the party. The edge should be thin so the wine flows directly onto the tongue and not past it.
- Choose a glass with a stem long enough to give you something to hold other than the bowl. Holding the glass around the bowl can warm the wine.
- Never buy small wine glasses. Drinking wine out of a small glass feels as awkward as sitting in a chair that's too small or eating dinner off a bread plate.
- In addition to regular wineglasses, buy flutes for serving Champagne and sparkling wines. The long, tapered shape of a flute encourages a steady stream of bubbles, and with these wines, bubbles are part of the pleasure.
- Wineglasses should be filled only half way (many say 1/3 full is ideal). This leaves plenty of room to swirl the wine so that its aromas and flavors come alive as they mix with oxygen. However, fill Champagne flutes slightly more than half since the goal is to encourage a bead of bubbles streaming to the surface. Do not fill flutes to the rim. Some air space will help to focus the aromas.
- Wash the glass properly. Sometimes the wine will taste odd because of an improperly washed glass. The best way to wash crystal is using your hand, not a sponge, with a small amount of diluted soap and lukewarm water. Then rinse crystal several times in hot, not scalding, water. Drain crystal upside down, then turn the glasses upright and let them dry in the air. Any drops or spots can be finished off with a clean, soft cloth. Store wineglasses right side up, not on its fragile rim.
- Baptizing Wine? Try this additional tip that is practiced in many Italian homes and top Italian restaurants. In Italy, a perfectly clean wineglass is not yet considered ready for use. The Italians always pour a small amount of wine in the glass, swirl it around, then throw this wine rinse out. Italians will say they are preparing the glass to receive the wine - a baptism of sorts. Try it and see if you agree with this Italian sensibility.
Tips for Storing Wine (back to top)
We constantly hear the question: How long can I age/store this wine? If you hear from some expert that this wine will age up to 8 years, or that wine up to 5 years, don't pay much attention. You can only tell how long a wine will age as that wine is aging. Everything else is speculation. But here are some general guidelines.
- Drink white wines now: Very few white wines age well, except for that special $100 bottle of Champagne. That is partly due to the lack of tannins that act as a preserving and softening agent in the wine. The tannins are mainly from the skins of the grape, and most white wines are fermented without the skin. So enjoy white wines now and don't freak out if you have a bottle that has been on the shelf for an extended period of time. Just drink it.
- Drink most reds now: Very few reds (one expert estimates 5%) age well and get better over time.
- Don't waste space storing cheap reds: Life is too short to drink cheap wine, and your house is too small to store cheap reds, hoping that they just might get better with time. Most likely if you start with a mediocre wine, a few years of aging will yield you a mediocre wine that is two years old!
- Age precious reds carefully: If you find a jewel that you just know will get better over time, then lay it down for a few years (on its side or upside-down so the cork won't dry out). So how do you find a jewel? Go to Wilson Creek, of course. But, how about at a store? The best way to find good wines is to buy a variety of wines and try a handful over the next few weeks. Then there will be the night when you open a red, taste it, and stand there speechless, frozen in time. You will find yourself squeezing every last drop out of the bottle. Now, go back to the store and buy some more bottles (or a case) and lay it down for a few years. If it ages well you have an even better wine. If it stays the same, you still have a great wine. It's like finding a good restaurant: you have to try some mediocre ones before you find a great one.
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