As the end of year draws near, we’re starting to look forward to the special bottles of wine that we’ll open during the Christmas and New Year festivities. There are many useful wine accessories to help us serve the wine and to help us taste the wine in the best conditions. Here are some of the ones that we think are the best.
Serving the wine at the right temperature
Ideally it’s best to put the unopened bottle of wine that you are going to serve for a couple of hours in a room or wine fridge that is already at the desired temperature. But with our heated homes in winter, it’s sometimes difficult to keep the wine cool, particularly for white wines that are generally best served between 10 and 12 °C. If you don’t want to put the wine in the fridge, which can reduce the aromatic appreciation of the wine, you can slip on a wine cooling jacket 15 minutes before serving. The jacket which has been cooled in the freezer, keeps the wine at the optimal temperature for around 30-40 minutes.
For wines that you want to serve a little colder, such as sparkling wine, you can use a wine cooling bag or an ice bucket, both of which are very efficient. A little tip is to salt the water in the ice bucket which will lower the temperature of the bottle more quickly!
Open the bottle without damaging the wine (or the hands)
The good news is that there are models adapted for all situations! For corkscrew beginners or for those of us who open lots of bottles, the lever corkscrew such as the “Screwpull” is the easiest to use. There is also the “Charles de Gaulle” corkscrew (Look closely when the two levers on the side are opened…), that takes up less space and are more affordable.
For those that are a little more experienced, the waiter’s corkscrew or sommelier’s corkscrew are very good. The sommelier’s corkscrew has the little curved knife included that is good for cutting the foil that protects the cork. To make it a little easier, opt for a double-lever corkscrew. The lever has two positions, allowing the cork to be removed halfway, before using the second position to completely eject the cork. That avoids having to screw the cork twice and reduces the risk of damaging the cork and ending up with bits of cork in your wine.
And if you’re thinking about opening some fairly old wines where the cork is likely to be more fragile, try the double-bladed corkscrew, where you have two thin blades that slide between the cork and the neck of the wine bottle without damaging the cork. It demands a little bit of practice though!
Bring out the full wine aromas
Some wines, more often for reds, benefit from being placed in a carafe, either to decant the wine and separate it from the solid matter that has settles in the side of the bottle during storage, or to accelerate the airing of the wine to best reveal its aromas. Sometimes it’s best to avoid disturbing the wine too much, and simply open the bottle a few hours ahead if you think that it needs to breathe. But be careful. Carafing a wine can sometimes diminish it, it depends on its age and maturity. Conversely to what many people believe, carafing a wine to air it is often more beneficial for young tannic wines, than old wines, which might be too delicate to withstand any brusque handling. Trust your senses when you open the bottle as to the best way to handle it.
To air the wine, you could also use a wine aerator. Very useful for when you’ve forgotten to open the wine in advance, you have to open another bottle because your guests are getting through the wine quicker than you thought, or the wine is really having trouble opening up. Again, it’s usually best to let the wine breath as naturally as possible though to best enjoy the first nose!
Pouring the wine in your glass (and not on the table cloth)
The moment for tasting the wine is almost there. All you have to do is pour it into the glasses. To help you, there are Drop Stops, really practical discs that roll up and slide into the neck of the bottle and stop any drips.
The Drop Stops can be washed by hand, but don’t get on very well with washing machines. There are also larger drip catchers that are more resistant to being put in the dishwasher.
For those that are confirmed wine waiters, nothing beats the sharp twist of the wrist to turn the bottle once you have finished pouring and avoiding any drips from running down the side of the bottle. Done correctly, it’s bound to impress your guests!
So you’re now ready for the perfect wine tasting. Most of these wine accessories can be found at reasonable prices in wine merchants or on the internet. Some can even be found in the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience welcome pack!
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