Picture: Maksym Kaharlytskyi / Unsplash
Indulging in a glass of wine with dinner at home doesn’t require following formal rules. However, wine etiquette has a purpose, and it’s a valuable one when you regularly attend social functions where wine is being served. You can enhance your wine-tasting experiences and social occasions by being aware of these customary guidelines:
Respect Your Host’s Wine Choices
You won’t always like the alcohol being served at a social or formal gathering. Still, if your hosts have chosen to buy premium wines that don’t particularly agree with your palate, refrain from making that information known.
Negative comments about anything being served, even as conversation starters with other guests, can be risky.
Pour the Right Amount
You might have assumed that bartenders only serve a third of a glass of wine in restaurants so that you’ll buy more, but there’s a scientific reason for this pouring technique. Wine can breathe better when the glass is only one-third full. Tasters can also find it easier to swirl the wine around to release its aromas when the glass isn’t full to the brim.
Hold Your Glass Properly
You might assume it doesn’t matter how you hold your wine glass as long as it remains in your hand. Keeping your glass the right way up is indeed important, but hand placement can also be. Always hold the glass by the stem instead of the bowl. Doing so prevents the heat from your hands from affecting the wine’s temperature. You can also enjoy the wine’s color without hand smudges all over the glass!
If you have a stemless glass, grasp it near the base, keeping only your thumb and two fingers on the glass and your other fingers supporting it from underneath.
Serve It At the Right Temperature
If you’re playing the role of host and serving wine to your guests, brush up on ideal serving temperatures. These can vary depending on the wine type. For example, champagne and sparkling wines should be well chilled, while red wines can be served at room temperature. Temperature is important since it can affect the intensity of each wine type’s sensory attributes.
You Can Spit
While you wouldn’t spit food out in any social situation, spitting wine into a supplied spittoon at a tasting event is perfectly acceptable. Spitting out wine doesn’t mean you don’t like it; it simply means you can enjoy multiple wines without feeling the effects of intoxication.
Spittoons aren’t just reserved for vineyards and cellar doors, either. You can purchase them for home use if you regularly purchase wines to taste test.
Know Your Limits
Knowing your limits can be important whether you’re hosting an event at your own home or attending a social function. Wine has an average alcohol percentage of around 15% but can be higher or lower depending on the grape variety and whether or not it’s fortified. If you don’t know your limits, you run the risk of drinking too much and becoming intoxicated. You may also be at risk of exceeding the legal blood alcohol limit for driving.
Swirl and Sniff
You might look out of place if you were to swirl and sniff a glass of orange juice, but no one will blink an eye if you take these actions with wine. Swirling wine can aerate it and help release its beautiful aromas.
Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or simply an enthusiast, it doesn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the nuances of wine-drinking etiquette. Knowing these customary guidelines can help elevate your next wine-drinking event and ensure enjoyment for all.
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