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You're drinking wine wrong


Whether you're just getting a taste for wine as a 20-something (21 or older, of course) or you've been drinking whites and reds for as long as you can remember, you might be doing it wrong. Here are few mistakes a lot of people make when selecting or drinking wine:

Don't put ice in it

Sparkling wines should be about 45 to 48 degrees, white wines should be between 50 and 55 degrees and reds should be about 60 to 65 degrees.  Do not refrigerate your red wines and do not put ice in whites. Ice dilutes wine and the taste. If you cannot afford a temperature controlled wine refrigerator, a trick you can do in the summer time when the temperature outside is rising is to put red wine in the refrigerator about 30 minutes before taking outdoors. It will slightly chill the wine and as the temperature rises outdoors, your wine won’t be too warm.

Mason jars aren't wine glasses

A wine glass has a stem for a reason. Toss those trendy wine glasses that do not have a stem. Without a stem, your hands warm the wine. With a stem, wine can maintain the right temperature. Plus, it looks more attractive when you hold the wine by the stem.

Red wine glasses typically have a larger bowl than white wine because the wines are bolder and need more surface area to breathe. Each different glass for each different wine can be overwhelming. I would suggest buying a larger red wine glass and use it for your white wines as well. You will still enjoy both. Another tip is to buy crystal glasses without a lip. Glasses that have a lip around the rim will affect how the wine rolls into your mouth and the overall experience of tasting.

Stop filling it to the rim

Don’t overfill the glass, your wine needs its space. If you want to get serious about wine, slightly tilt the glass in the light. Use your sense of sight to see the depth of color in the glass. Make sure you do the three s’s by smelling, swirling, and sipping your wine to enhance your tasting experience. Try to identify the smells. Swirl the wine to allow the oxygen to open the bouquet of the wine and let the wine gently roll onto your tongue.

Avoid boxed wine

Every time I visit the Fine Wine and Good Spirits Store I always see someone in the check-out or walking out with their Franzia boxed wine. Boxed wine has gotten a bad rap over the years for good reason. Many brands have used a variety of large producers that grow grapes in not the best conditions. These producers are more concerned about the quantity of grapes produced and profits rather than the quality. Certainly not all boxed wine is created equal, but like a bottle, I tend to stay away from any wine produced in massive quantities by massive wine corporations. If I had to drink boxed wine, I would chose the Back Box or Bandit boxed wine. They are far better in quality than other brands.