Wine Portal

We all love refreshing glass of vino, either an We all love a nice glass of wine, whether it’s an We all love a nice glass of wine, whether it’s an We all love a nice glass of wine, whether it’s an Italian wine after a hard day at work or an Australian wine with friends and family at an al-fresco dinner party, for some of us however, a bottle and a glass is simply not sufficient for extracting maximum enjoyment from our poison of choice. While using additional equipment to serve alcoholic beverages may seem fussy and unnecessary to some, you may be surprised to learn that decanters were being used by the ancient Greeks thousands of years go. It comes to light then that wine-based gizmos are nothing new, they simply fell out of fashion in our convenience obsessed and time-poor culture.

It is time to start bringing this kind of equipment back into circulation; after all, what’s the use in splashing out on a decent bottle of plonk if we’re not going to get the most out of it? Most of us hastily throw the wine into a glass that’s too small, neck it, and be done with it. This is not the way to savour a permium vintage. The first job is to make sure your wine is the correct temperature, whites and champagnes are best served chilled so if you are having a dinner party or BBQ, invest in a cooler to maintain a stable temperature.

When the wine is the perfect temperature, ensure you un-cork correctly and with a well made cork-screw to avoid having unsightly lumps floating around in your glass. While we’re on the subject of glasses, get some better ones! A long stem will allow you hold the glasses without warming the wine with your hand, while a wide bowel will allow the aroma of the wine to circulate, enhancing the drinking experience, especially with Alsace wines.

Once the wine is open it would be a good idea to use an arealator to introduce more oxygen to the bottle, allowing the wine to breath. A decanter of course performs a similar function. In the unlikely event that you don’t polish off all of your wine, a stopper is an absolute essential so it doesn’t inherit the smell of left-over pizza from your fridge. Of course if you were really a wine buff you’d have an old dusty wine rack wine the basement! There are some simple products to make your next glass of wine into a taste and smell explosion rather than just a drink.