If all the wines seem to you the same, and in a restaurant you modestly pass the word on to the person sitting next to you - do not worry, you are not the only one. But what if you were invited to a cool party, and all knowledge about wine is limited to the banal "sparkling, white, red"? Andrey Ushakov, the head of the L-Wine project, told us how to drink wine properly at events.
1) Start with sparkling wine. Good parties often don't serve prosecco, but champagne, so you can't go wrong. Do you want to be immediately known as a wine esthete and a great connoisseur? Incidentally, draw the attention of the interlocutor to a thin overlapping - that is, the play of bubbles in the glass. And if you are not too lazy to google what disgorgement and remuage means (stages of creating sparkling wine), by the end of the evening you can easily pass for a sommelier.
2) If sparkling wine does not catch your eye, choose the lightest white wine, and move from it towards more complex and powerful wines. From pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc, move on to aged chardonnay and only then taste the reds. From pinot noir and supertuscany, your path leads to rich Malbecs and shiraz. Do not hesitate to ask the waiter what kind of wine is offered to your guests.
3) Always hold the stem of the glass, not the bowl. Otherwise, no overloading with disgorgement will save you, and everyone will see an amateur in front of them. Every person versed in wine knows that a glass is heated by hand, and this changes the taste and aroma of wine not for the better. In addition, a glass splattered with fingers looks very untidy.
4) Ask the waiter to fill the glass no more than a third. It is this kind of space that wine needs, so that it opens up and displays its best organoleptic qualities, and you can enjoy the wonderful aroma of a noble drink.
5) Be sure to drink plenty of water. It is the water that allows you to control the degree of intoxication and wake up in the morning vigorous and fresh.
6) Choose the right wine pairings. Usually, small snacks served with welcome drinks go well with the same sparkling wine. In all other cases, stick to the color combination (red for meat, white for fish), or look for regional pairs (sancerre from Loire for goat cheese, Spanish jamon for tempranillo from Rioja).
7) If you are tired of parties, and you also want a holiday at home, learn to open sparkling wine like a sommelier. The first step is to make sure the wine is chilled well. If the bottle turns out to be warm, feel free to send it back to the kitchen or to the ice bucket. To uncork the wine elegantly and not pour over the guests, never pull on the cork, but instead rotate the bottle itself. In general, by the way a person opens wine, you can tell a lot about him, so watch a couple of lessons from sommelier bloggers on YouTube.
8) Master the Express Wine Cooling Method. This will come in handy if, after reading our material, you feel so relaxed that you decide to throw your own wine party. A large handful of salt should be added to the bucket of cold water and ice, this will allow the drinks to reach the desired temperature much faster. But never (never - do you hear?) Put ice in a glass of wine. By doing this, you simply destroy all the labor of winemakers.
9) Do your homework - Are you afraid to get confused if someone asks your opinion on wine? Prepare a couple of universal phrases: "This wine seems to me to be very harmonious and balanced!", "A very expressive and multifaceted sample!"; "What a magnificent expression of your terroir!"
10) Any red wine colors lips and teeth. Just humble yourself!
