Guide on How to Drink Wine the Right Way

Wine has always been associated with celebration, style, relaxation, and skill. Connoisseurs pride themselves in knowing the fine art of identifying different types of wine simply by smelling or looking at them.

And if you, like many laymen, have trouble even selecting the right wine to go with a meal, then this is precisely what you should be reading. This story will shed light on the little intricacies of drinking wine like it's meant to be. We'll give you some tips and pointers on how to check it and how to drink it.

Gulping down wine in a jiffy, unfortunately makes your palate miss out on some fine wine drinking experiences. Let us, in the sections below, find out how exactly to drink wine. But before that, let us see what we can do to ensure that the final experience is superb.

The first step is to know which one to drink. Though sweet wine is always advised for beginners, what if you happen to attend a wine tasting party that does not serve something for beginners? Follow the following golden rule: red wine for red meat and white wine for seafood and poultry.

Plain and simple. Still, if you have any doubt, don't feel shy to ask someone who knows about it for advice. It will be much better than having the wrong wine brought to the table and the entire meal being ruined.

After you have selected which wine you will be drinking, the next thing you need to do is bring it to the appropriate temperature. Red wine is served slightly warm. Hence, the general serving temperature for red wine is somewhere between 63º and 65º. White wine is served at a slightly lower temperature than red wine.

Around 53º to 55º for white wine is sufficiently warm. Decant the wine, that is, pour it out of the bottle into another container for sometime before serving it. This is called letting the wine 'breathe'. Check the cork and the wine properly for spoilage or sediment.

Once you have selected the appropriate wine and let it breathe for a while, the next thing you need to know is how to serve it. Wine, when served during dinner, is generally served in large glasses with stems. Otherwise, red wine is served in a glass that has a bigger bowl and the glass for white wine has a longer bowl. Pour the wine into the glass and let it stay for a moment or two. Allow it to breathe in the glass as well to enjoy the experience thoroughly.

Once your wine glass has the wine in it, you need to test it before you taste it. So first, swirl the glass a little, placing the glass against a white background like a wall or a light. Check that the brim of the wine is a deep red (like a ruby) and the center of the wine will have a deeper shade of red (almost maroon).

Next, use your sense of smell. Sniff the wine as you swirl it. The aroma of a good wine rises above when it is swirled. Next comes the tasting. Sip the wine but don't swallow it immediately.

Let your taste buds take in the sweetness, let your tongue enjoy the mild acidity and let your entire palate decide by the taste that is left behind, whether you enjoyed the wine's smooth finish or not.

Use these tips the next time you happen to buy or receive a bottle of wine. Wine making is a splendid art and drinking good wine is a delicious luxury to enjoy. So savor every bit of it.