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| The Course |
| Tasting wine at home |
Serving temperatures
and glasses
Never under 6-7°C and never over 18-20°C. Somewhere
between these two extremes are the ideal temperatures for all different types
of wine. As a general rule, bear in mind that the more the temperature falls the
less sensitive the tastebuds are (at under 4°C they register virtually nothing).
Lower temperatures emphasize bitter, salty
and tannic tastes, while higher temperatures emphasize sweetness, aromas and the
alcohol component. Strong or fortified white wines are served at a lower temperature,
around 7-9°C. A degree or so higher (around 10°) is ideal for light dry whites
with marked acidity or effervescence,
such as sparkling wines. 10° is also
suitable for rosés and new wines and those which are usually characterised
by 'youthfulness'. The more complex the wine the higher the temperature. 12° but
sometimes even 14° or 15° is suitable for important, mature dry white wines: if
served at a low temperature they would lose a great part of their aromas.
Aroma-rich red wines with the fruitiness of youth benefit from a temperature of
around 15° which highlights their aromatic freshness. Bigger, more aged red wines,
on the other hand, are tasted at a temperature of around 18°, which reinforces
the bouquet and accentuates the softness.
Each wine has its own glass
- or a tulip-shaped glass (tulipe).
As well as providing optimum conditions
for best appreciating the aromatic qualities of the wine, wineglasses are beautiful
objects in themselves. For those who can afford (financially and in terms of space)
the right glasses for the right wine here are the ones to use.
Fresh, aromatic
white wines are served in long-stemmed slender glasses with a slightly flared
lip, a feature which contains the bouquet at the base, allowing it to come out
the top of the glass better. This is a feature which is also seen in the champagne
glass or coupe, ideal for enjoying sweet sparkling wines or naturally fermented
sweet wines. However, the coupe is not the ideal glass for dry sparkling wines.
These are tasted in a tall glass known as a flute and this is the only case where
a glass is filled to the top (for other wines the glass is only about a third
full). One important aspect in judging the quality of a sparkling wine is the
persistence and size of the bubbles. More important white wines are better in
a long-stemmed, larger glass which should narrow towards the rim so as to contain
the more complex aromas.
Rosé wines and young wines are served in tulip-shaped
glasses which narrow slightly towards the top. The more complex
the wine the larger the glass must be to allow good oxygenation
of mature wines, as with Large long-stemmed tulip-shaped glasses
which narrow towards the top and with the so-called balloons,
which are ample-bodied big glasses for the most austere reds.
Dried grape wines and fortified wines are served in small tulip-shaped
glasses, with not too long a stem. These also narrow towards
the top.
If you do not want
to crowd your sideboard with dozens of glasses the best thing is to buy the tulipe
(tulip-shaped glass), which is the classic wine-tasting glass and is suitable
for any type of wine. It is shaped like the flower it takes its name from and
narrows towards the rim, allowing the nose to almost block the mouth of the glass
and thereby perceive the bouquet as fully as possible.
Sequence of
wines
How should wines be served? Quite apart from ideal partnerships,
there is a precise sequence to respect in order to make sure that the tastebuds
do not get saturated. First the whites are served and then the reds. The sparkling
wines are served before the non-sparkling, the less aromatic before the more perfumed.
The dry wines are served before the sweet wines and the least alcoholic before
the more complex wines. These rules are borne in mind in dealing with the 'palate'
in general. When trying cheeses, for example, one should bear in mind that if
the stronger ones are tasted first they make it more difficult to perceive the
taste of the more delicate ones afterwards.
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