Wearing Down Wine Etiquette: A Little Review

THE BASICS: Although it's always good to break a few rules, make sure and drink that glass of white wine chilled.
 
 
The wine industry is one built on contradictions: Italians creating wine laws, only for some of their most prestigious wines to break them, Spanish planting varietals that aren't indigenous to their land (ie: Petit Verdot), and Americans making sparkling wines in the style of champagne-that aren't champagne, and can't even legally be called champagne.

However, as with every hobby, industry, or delicacy, there are some widely accepted rules to the game. These rules aren't set to make drinking a bottle of wine less enjoyable, but rather so that the bottle is enjoyed equally by all of those who are drinking it.

In a time where you can hear the word recession on any given television newscast an average of ten times a night, there's a good chance you will be hosting more wine-drinking events at home, rather then out at a restaurant.

Not to worry, I've got it covered.

Firstly, wine storage is important, and it's something we've gone over before. But to condense everything I've said in the past, put all of your wine (white and red) in the refrigerator before your get together begins. Take the red wine out twenty minutes to a half hour before your guests arrive, and take the white out five to ten minutes before your guests arrive.

Sallys-place.com( a site that has a wealth of information to offer about wine drinking) recommends that red wine be consumed at 63 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, while white wine is to be consumed at 53 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rules in wine temperature seem a bit reversed when it comes to red and white wine-often red wine is too warm for your palate to have an opportunity to taste the wine's complexity, and white wine is often too cold, making it difficult to enjoy the subtleties the white has to offer (especially southern Italian whites such as Grillo, and Viognier).

As a good baseball glove can be lucrative to any team, a good wine key (or corkscrew) is an important part of the wine drinking process. The good people over at Tappenzee make the wine key I'm currently using, but I can vouch for the quality of PullTab, and Pulltex as well.

The two most important aspects of the wine key that you want to take notice of when buying one are the sharpness of the knife (often times a good measure of how well the wine key is made) and the entire weight of the wine key (also a good sign it was made to endure more than a few bottles).

I don't recommend that you buy the stationary, level model, or twist style corkscrews, that you might find in a Macy's. Sure they look great-but they're difficult to use, and a good way to knock your cork into the bottle, and ruin your wine. Stick to the wine key, or waiter style corkscrew, as they're often called.

Now you've got the bottle at the right temperature, the right tools in your hands, and your glassware out, and ready to go. What next?

First decide amongst yourselves as to who is going to taste the wine-here, a simple swirl of the glass, and sniff of the wine will tell you if it is good to be poured (remember: it's only bad when it's "corked"; that wet-basement smell we talked about a few weeks ago). Then pour the wine clockwise around the table, following the person who just tasted the wine. The person who tasted the wine first will be the last glass you complete.

Also, it doesn't matter if there are two or ten of you (for more of a tasting experience), pour the wine evenly, and, if possible, leave something in the bottle after you've poured for everyone, even just an ounce. It's only a courtesy because drinking the wine with the bottle on the table is important, at least for the first glass, and keeping an empty bottle on the table is a no-no.

Some of my favorite ideas for these get-togethers are when everyone brings a bottle of something they love, and can share with the group what they love about it. It also takes the responsibility off of the host, giving everyone an opportunity to curate the evening.

Either way, these sorts of get get-togethers give people in a country where there isn't a great deal of financial stability an opportunity to treat themselves to something of a luxury.

Happy drinking, Brooklyn.