Who have not heard about certain tricks and ways to keep wine fresh? Who has not heard of the magical qualities of teaspoon put in an open champagne bottle? Which is rubbish by the way. It does not keep the bubbles in. There are numerous advices around from family and friends or even from serious wine drinkers. Let’s just go through some of them.
When I tell people I am a sommelier, they instantly come up with questions that they have never dared to ask in a restaurant setting from a wine waiter. Once a nurse asked me before my operation while we were getting ready. She wanted conformation from someone with authority, just like me before general anaesthetic, that bottles with a deep punt in the bottom were better quality than the ones with no punt or flat bottom. Without going into too much details, although certain regions have their favoured bottle shape, like Alsace with their long, narrow fluted bottles, punts as such have no relation to the quality. They can be useful when serving as you can hold the bottle much more firmly. The same stands for the heaviness of the bottle. Just because it is heavy, the wine can be anything from terrible to outstanding. At a time, American bottles were rather heavy, but I came across with pretty hefty Italian bottles as well. It is purely the producer’s choice and a rather wasteful one at that. As heavier bottles need more glass to produce them, they need more energy to transport them, they take up more space, so not necessarily a green option. Nowadays decent producers are trying to look out for the most economic, carbon neutral ways of minimising waste and its effects on the environment. I have written about the cork and screw top debacle before and again it is not corresponding to the quality of the wine. There are some great New World wines using screw cap and plenty great Old-World wines using good quality corks. Nowadays there is the Vinolok option too.
One of my pet-hates, I have already written about it extensively, is the temperature of wine. It is not half as complicated as we customers are trying to make it, or restaurants are trying to do it for their customers’ demand. Hardly anything needs to be served ice cold. Well, maybe a good gin and tonic. And again, apart from mulled wine, you do not want to serve reds “warmed up”. When the French came up with the idea of chambré, rooms were not as toasty as they are nowadays. It meant something between 15-18 C°. Obviously, cellars were not as cold either as they were not temperature controlled. A cellar was a narrow hole dug into the ground. Proper cellars keep a constant temperature around 8-12 C°, because they are underground. So, whites could not be ice cold, mainly not in a time when ice was a somewhat seasonal delicacy.
If anything, restaurants generally overchilling whites, which dumbs down the fruit, and overheat reds, which boils off the fruit. I most certainly do not want my Mersault in an ice bucket or my Charmes-Chambertin at room temperatures. Lighter reds such as Gamay and Pinot Noir actually benefit from a shorter chill time as the tannins would perk up a little.
Sediment is nothing to be afraid of. It is not the back the end from the barrel or flaking barrel bits. More like tannin and colour spent a long time in a bottle and got really friendly. These types of wines are bigger reds that would appreciate decanting. That is the occasion when your never used decanter can come handy, and it does look cool on the table. The same stands for ‘wine diamonds’ in white wine. It is not broken glass. They are just harmless, naturally occurring tartrate crystals. Nothing to worry about.
Food and wine matching is another topic that people can be obsessed with. I am a sommelier, I know, I have experienced it. There are some general rules to follow for an enhanced experience, but it is not astrophysics. There is more than one right choice for any dish out there. Be daring and do not go with the old-school fish with white, meat with red, cheese with port. Tuna can go with a light red, chicken with a sauce can go whit a heavier Chardonnay from Burgundy, fish and chips is great with sparkling wine and a sweet dessert wine can be great with Epoisses, or a fantastic Malmsey with a rich blue cheese. You decide.
Photographs by The Tannin Addict.