A Guide 2 Serving Bordeaux wines

Description:

In order to fully appreciate the wine you’ve brought back from a visit to the region, or before cracking open that bottle you’ve been saving for that special occasion, read through this advice on how to make the most of your tasting experience.

The right glass

Firstly, make sure you have a good set of wine glasses.  Ideally they should be quite large to help encourage the development of aromas, with a small mouth to concentrate them in a tulip shape.  Do not use V shaped glasses or ones which flare outwards, these type of glasses should be avoided at all costs!

Tasting Order

If you have a selection of wines to drink in the same evening make sure you taste them in the right order to ensure one wine doesn’t overpower another.  A general rule is that you should always serve young wines before old ones and dry wines before sweet ones. 

Opening the bottle: Uncorking

You are literally spoilt for choice for fancy bottle openers but the most important part is relevant to all types of openers.  Ensure you cut the capsule far enough away from the mouth of the bottle to avoid any of the wine touching or coming into contact with the metal.  This could alter the taste of the wine if it were to make contact.  Certainly do not open the bottle by uncorking directly through the capsule!   In the same way you wouldn’t shake about a can of fizzy pop, you should avoid unnecessary movement especially with old bottles. 

To chill or not to chill? Temperature

The temperature at which you serve your wine has an immediate effect on the aromas – serve it too hot and the oxidisation process speeds up destroying some more delicate aromas, serve it too cold and it won’t open up enough to reveal itself. 

Recommended temperatures for serving are:

Dry white wines, rosés, clairets and sparkling wines

 - best served from 7-10°C

Strong whites and sweet white wines                       

 - best served from 9-12°C

Fresh and light reds 

- best served from 13-15°C

Powerful and complex reds

- best served from 15-17°C

Why decant wine?

Not all wines need to be decanted or poured into a carafe.  Young wines benefit from this practice which softens and rounds its tannins and releases its aromas.  A good half hour is ideal, however sometimes longer may be required particularly with powerful tannic wines (young Medoc wines are often this case). 

When a wine is opened it enter in contact with oxygen and this contact helps the wine breath.  By pouring it from a bottle into a decanter the wine is oxygenated and this is the best time to taste it before it is oxydised after being exposed to too much oxygen. 

It is vital to store you wine in the correct environment also.

Now you have you selected the right wine, opened and served it correctly, you will want to be able to taste it.