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Wine Etiquette 101

26-3

If you’ve ever found yourself confused on #HowToWine, we’ve got you! Here are the best tips on how to wine like a pro!

Tip #1. Holding A Wine Glass

Holding a glass by the bell may be the most pragmatic and physically comfortable way to hold it, but in fact, the correct way to hold a glass of wine is by the stem. Holding any glass of wine by the bell causes the warmth of your body, via your hands, to transfer over to the wine, thus slowly ruining it. Holding it by the stem avoids that problem. Red wine is meant to stay room temperature and heating it up with your hands would cause it to reach body temperature…. eww. With white wine, it’s meant to stay chilled. Holding your wine by the bell is *initiate finger wagging* a big no-no.

Tip #2. Swirling Wine

Swirling juice in our cups as little kids, once upon a time, was done for fun. Swirling wine, on the other hand, is a technique. It’s common to smell your wine before taking the first sip as part of your tasting experience. Some wines are too dry for some people, because of tannic acids, so swirling your wine glass draws oxygen from the air into the wine. You’ll want to swirl your wine by drawing small, tight circles around the base of your glass by placing it on a table top for stability. If you’re more comfortable with your glass you can pick it up off the table and hold it up in the air. Remember, stick to creating small, tight circles though. If your wine glass is too full you may easily find yourself accidentally re-enacting that splashing apple juice torpedo from the second grade.

 Tip #3. Clicking Glasses

When going in for a nice “cheers” with some friends or loved ones, avoid clinking glasses rim to rim. Instead, opt for some bell to bell action. The rim of the glass is usually the most thin and therefore sensitive. The bell, the widest part of the glass, is usually thicker. By clinking glasses at the bell, not only will you avoid the possibility of both glasses crashing into each other and breaking, but you’ll discover a pleasant “bong” sound that makes any “cheers” worth doing.

Tip #4. Sipping The Wine

As you sip and enjoy the taste of your wine, try sipping from the same spot on the glass. It’ll keep your glass cleaner from the wine ripples that’ll form on the sides after you’ve swirled it, and you won’t be smelling your mouth around the edge when you try to sniff it.

Tip #5. Serving The Wine

When trying to access the good stuff you’ll want to do your best at making this a seamless procedure. Be like a ninja. Wrestling with the bottle is never fun, so allow Coravin to be the superhero here for a minute. When serving your wine you’ll want to pour yourself and others about a little less than half the glass, and you always want to be considerate and ask others if they’d like seconds before you pour yourself some more. And of course they will, it’s wine!

 

By: Stephanie Almeida

***Grabbed from: https://www.coravin.com/blog/Etiquette012417/