We Ask a Wine Pro: What Are the Biggest Wine Mistakes People Make?
you don’t need to have Sommelier training or a huge Budget To enjoy wine. There are many great everyday wines available at very affordable prices, but no one stereotype fits the image of the “typical” wine drinker these days.
Wine has long since shed its elitist reputation, and with it came outdated maxims about what makes good wine. For example, “legs” does not equate to quality, nor does a rosé wine need to be the lightest shade of pink to be completely dry.
Read more: The 35 Best Wine Gifts of 2024, According to Sommeliers
That being said, whether you’re drinking Barolo or going barefoot, a few best practices can ensure your wine and wine-drinking experience is the best it can be. Jerry Chandler, General Manager, Charlotte Department Store bohemian bar and wine consultant 36th Exchange Share with us five mistakes you may be making when it comes to wine.
1. Wrong serving temperature
Wine is often served too cold or too warm to fully express its aromatic compounds.
We tend to drink white wine straight from the refrigerator and red wine straight from the counter, but both can benefit from being served a little closer to the center for the ideal serving temperature. Neither white wine that’s cold nor red wine that’s too hot will express its aromatic compounds effectively. White wines from the 40s or 50s will have more active flavors, red wines from the 50s or 60s will have more active flavors.
To achieve this, “put the wine in the refrigerator for 10 or 15 minutes, just to cool it down a little bit,” says Chandler. Likewise, you can remove white wine from the refrigerator 15 to 20 minutes before serving, or place a bottle of room-temperature white wine in a bucket of ice water and refrigerate it for the same amount of time. “This will give you temperatures in the 40s,” he said, “but not too cold.”
Note that ice plus water and salt will cool the bottle much faster than ice alone. You can stick a bottle of wine in the refrigerator for a few minutes, “just don’t forget that because you’ll burn off the wine and a lot of the sugars will separate,” Chandler says.
Sparkling wine can also raise the temperature slightly, but also watch for an increased level of fizz. “It’s going to be a little more lively,” Chandler said, adding more pop when it’s opened.
2. Sparkling wine is exploded incorrectly
To open the champagne, open the cage and gently pull and twist.
Speaking of which, while the pop of a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine may be festive, it can also be dangerous by reducing the carbonation in the bottle.
Most sparkling wines have a mushroom-shaped cork at the top, coupled with a metal cage that holds the cork in place as the contents of the bottle are pressurized. However, that cage serves another purpose: it also helps you open bottles safely. It should be unscrewed and loosened, but left in place to help you remove the cork. “You can use the sides of the cage to gently grab and twist,” Chandler says. “This will slowly release some of the pressure in the bottle.” It releases the cork in a slower, more controlled manner and retains more Too much carbon dioxide is what causes bubbles.
“I see a lot of people just unscrewing the cage and taking the cage off, and I always feel like my heart is racing because you’re allowing the cork to do whatever it wants, including firing it full speed in any direction,” said Chandler Le. “Never remove that cage unless you remove it with a cork.”
3. Improper storage
Wine should be stored in a dry, cool place away from direct sunlight.
When it comes to storing wine, you don’t have to have a wine cellar or wine collection to follow some common-sense practices. In the United States, most wine is consumed within a few hours of purchase, in which case there won’t be too many problems, but even if you keep a bottle for a few days for a special occasion, “make sure” we Be vigilant,” says Chandler, to make sure any wine you own doesn’t cost you money through improper handling.
Light, heat and movement can have an effect on even cheap bottles. “You never want to put wine somewhere where the temperature is constantly fluctuating,” which could be anywhere that gets direct sunlight at any time of day, Chandler says. “You also don’t want to leave it in a place where it’s constantly moving,” which can break up any sediment and affect its flavor, Chandler says. For example, leaving a bottle of wine in a car can expose it to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, and subject it to excessive movement.
The best way to store wine for more than a few hours is to keep it somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight.
4. Packaging snobs
If you turn your nose up at wine with screw caps, you’re missing out on some great affordable wines.
There was a time when the weight of a bottle or the type of cap used might have been a guarantee of a wine’s quality, but this is no longer the case. Like other types of alcoholic beverages, wine continues to evolve to adapt to changing trends, as sustainability issues and technological advancements create more diverse packaging options.
“Science has come a long way in preserving wine, especially in the past 20 years,” Chandler said. But some people still have a bias against wine sealed with a screw cap. (For wine pros, that’s a “Stevin bottle cap.”) “You don’t want to leave a bottle with a screw cap for 20 years,” he says, “but for a wine you’re going to be drinking soon Said the screw cap was very good.”
Read more: Ask the Experts: How to Find Great Wine on a Budget
Many wine producers are actually reducing the weight of their bottles as they roll out sustainability initiatives, and some leading wine critics refuse to rate wines whose bottles exceed a certain weight. The quality of canned and boxed wines is also improving, as these packages are also supported by sustainability measures. Basically, wine has entered an era of “don’t judge a book by its cover”.
5. Never leave your comfort zone
Adventurous wine drinkers will have more fun.
There are literally thousands of wine grape varieties, not to mention wine producers, yet most of us tend to drink the same bottles over and over again. Because of the way wine is distributed in the United States, it can be difficult to find producers that consistently have wine available in various stores. Or find a bottle of your favorite wine on the retail shelf at your local restaurant. Many of us tend to drink the same mass-produced brands and familiar grapes because we can always find them.
It’s also a mistake from the standpoint of getting the most bang for your buck, understanding what’s actually in the bottle, and expanding your palate. “With wines that are mass-produced, I always think about what else is in there that will give them a consistent flavor profile,” Chandler says. (Hint: It’s not just grapes.) Anything with a marketing budget devoted to major advertising tends to represent wine made in boardrooms rather than vineyards.
However, growing a business is understandably difficult. “When I first started learning about wine, I just wanted to drink certain things because I didn’t want to spend the money and risk it,” Chandler said. Rather than focusing on a few bottles, try to understand the flavor profiles you like and be willing to engage with wine professionals in retail or restaurant settings who can introduce you to new things based on your preferences. “Wine is an endless experience,” he said, “and we want people to be as excited as we were when they tried it for the first time.”
