Proper Wine Consumption
Amazing how an entire culture revolves around the extract of a single fruit. Although appreciating wine can sometimes seem like splitting hairs, the subtleties of this acquired taste become real as ever when optimally served and paired with the right foods. Let us go through some pointers you can use to make your wine tasting experience more fruitful!
Properly serving has the potential of making cheaper wines more palatable but it can tarnish a high-end bottle if done poorly. Aerating or decanting your wine right before drinking can make a noticeable difference. The Starfrit Wine Aerator instantly releases the aromas of wine and enhances its flavor.
Another key factor is uncorking your bottle. Before inserting your corkscrew, make sure the point of the worm (curlicue part of the opener) is slightly off center. Once you start turning in, the worm will center itself and the cork will stay in one piece! For safe bottle opening every time, use the Starfrit Automatic Corkscrew and its non-stick spiral coating.
In cases of leftover wine, make sure to use a wine preserver to keep oxygen and bacteria away. To give you an idea, when exposed to oxygen for too long, wine turns into vinegar. That’s when the Starfrit Wine Stopper comes in handy: simply insert it in any bottle neck and pull the lever to seal the bottle.
Serving temperatures
The ideal serving temperature varies depending on the type of wine chosen. As mentioned earlier, this is one of the things that can greatly affect wine, for better or for worst. For example, slightly cooling cheaper red wines can hide some of their less bearable traits whereas wines over 70°F/21°C tend to smell more alcoholic because of increased ethanol evaporation.
Food and wine
Wine is rarely consumed on its own for a reason: it can help stimulate your taste buds to make food more appetizing and savory. A common rule is to ensure your wine is sweeter than your food because the objective of wine is to give your mouth “a break” and hydrate it, not to impend on the food. Here are a few examples.
When drinking Cabernet-Sauvignon, a nice piece of red meat is most fitting like a Steak with Sweet Potato French Fries. With its astringent taste, the wine refreshes the palate after each bite of meat.
Rosés are best paired with rich, cheesy foods because their acidity and fruitiness form a great contrast with the tangy and salty flavor of strong cheese. For instance, a Lasagna with Roasted Vegetables is a great match with any dry rosé.
For braised or marinated meat, look no further than a fruity Shiraz. This wine’s mild and sweet taste beautifully complements heavily marinated BBQ meat like a Braised Beef Blade Roast. This type of meat will make astringent wine taste bitter which is why a fruity wine is needed to counter the marinade’s sweetness.
Pinot Noir, with its silky texture and soft acidic taste, fits with many types of food but mostly light, braised meat like salmon, duck and pork. One great food example is this Duck Confit Parmentier with a sweet potato purée flavored with rosemary and caramelized onions.
As you may already know, white wines go great with seafood. The most versatile wines include Vinho Verde and Sauvignon blanc. The latter goes particularly well with a Seafood Gratin with Saffroned Béchamel. The zesty, lime-inspired taste of Sauvignon blanc enhances the strong taste of the seafood seasoning and béchamel sauce, completing an exquisite pair.
As Merlot finds itself in the middle of the wine spectrum in terms of color and taste, it is also extremely versatile. However, it pairs very well with light meats and lightly seasoned dark meats. Strong tasting food will overwhelm Merlot’s nuanced flavors and leave a bitter finale. Try it with a Pulled Chicken Penne with Creamy Lemon Sauce.
Recipes:
Another key factor is uncorking your bottle. Before inserting your corkscrew, make sure the point of the worm (curlicue part of the opener) is slightly off center. Once you start turning in, the worm will center itself and the cork will stay in one piece! For safe bottle opening every time, use the Starfrit Automatic Corkscrew and its non-stick spiral coating.
In cases of leftover wine, make sure to use a wine preserver to keep oxygen and bacteria away. To give you an idea, when exposed to oxygen for too long, wine turns into vinegar. That’s when the Starfrit Wine Stopper comes in handy: simply insert it in any bottle neck and pull the lever to seal the bottle.
Serving temperatures
The ideal serving temperature varies depending on the type of wine chosen. As mentioned earlier, this is one of the things that can greatly affect wine, for better or for worst. For example, slightly cooling cheaper red wines can hide some of their less bearable traits whereas wines over 70°F/21°C tend to smell more alcoholic because of increased ethanol evaporation.
- Red wines in general are always best served cooled instead of at room temperature, against widespread belief. They are usually best kept in the 53°F/12°C to 69°F/21°C range.
- As for rosés, the rule of thumb is to keep them in the fridge for 30 minutes before opening, bring them to around 53°F/12°C to 63°F/17°C.
- White wine, does not have to be freezing cold but merely “fridge cold”, between 44°F/7°C and 57°F/14°C.
Food and wine
Wine is rarely consumed on its own for a reason: it can help stimulate your taste buds to make food more appetizing and savory. A common rule is to ensure your wine is sweeter than your food because the objective of wine is to give your mouth “a break” and hydrate it, not to impend on the food. Here are a few examples.
When drinking Cabernet-Sauvignon, a nice piece of red meat is most fitting like a Steak with Sweet Potato French Fries. With its astringent taste, the wine refreshes the palate after each bite of meat.
Rosés are best paired with rich, cheesy foods because their acidity and fruitiness form a great contrast with the tangy and salty flavor of strong cheese. For instance, a Lasagna with Roasted Vegetables is a great match with any dry rosé.
For braised or marinated meat, look no further than a fruity Shiraz. This wine’s mild and sweet taste beautifully complements heavily marinated BBQ meat like a Braised Beef Blade Roast. This type of meat will make astringent wine taste bitter which is why a fruity wine is needed to counter the marinade’s sweetness.
Pinot Noir, with its silky texture and soft acidic taste, fits with many types of food but mostly light, braised meat like salmon, duck and pork. One great food example is this Duck Confit Parmentier with a sweet potato purée flavored with rosemary and caramelized onions.
As you may already know, white wines go great with seafood. The most versatile wines include Vinho Verde and Sauvignon blanc. The latter goes particularly well with a Seafood Gratin with Saffroned Béchamel. The zesty, lime-inspired taste of Sauvignon blanc enhances the strong taste of the seafood seasoning and béchamel sauce, completing an exquisite pair.
As Merlot finds itself in the middle of the wine spectrum in terms of color and taste, it is also extremely versatile. However, it pairs very well with light meats and lightly seasoned dark meats. Strong tasting food will overwhelm Merlot’s nuanced flavors and leave a bitter finale. Try it with a Pulled Chicken Penne with Creamy Lemon Sauce.
Recipes: