Making the Most of a Glass of Wine
by Leslie Brenner
You like wine. As much as the next guy; maybe more. You pop open a bottle and pour it with dinner without giving it a second thought, other than “red or white?” You’re not one of those difficult types who thinks it has to be a special occasion before you’re willing to whip out a corkscrew.
Still, you can’t help but wonder: what’s all the fuss about?
There are pleasures to be found in every glass of wine, from the simplest house white to the most refined first-growth Bordeaux. You needn’t have a wine cellar or subscribe to arcane wine magazines to know how to make the most of a glass of wine.
Here’s how you can squeeze as much enjoyment as possible out of every glass.
- When you pour, don’t pour too much—just fill the glass about a third full. You don’t want to be so worried about spilling it that you can’t give it a nice swirl in the glass.
- Take a look at it. This doesn’t mean you have to take notes or hold it up to a piece of white paper and split hairs about whether it’s actually pale straw or light yellow, cherry red or brick. Just take a second to notice—does it look inviting? Refreshing? Thin? Thick? Fizzy? Intense? Just as a large part of enjoying food is seeing how it appears on the plate when it arrives, so it is with wine. What’s a happier sight than a glass that’s yet to be sipped?
- Give it a whirl, and smell. Really stick your nose in the glass. Is it pretty? Pleasant? Flowery? Weird? Fruity? Spicy?
- Now drink. You know how to do that part. You don’t have to swish it around or gargle with it at the table. Just enjoy it.
- Then ask yourself: how does it taste with the food? Does it add anything to the dish? Does the food add anything to the wine?
- 6. What’s it like after you’ve swallowed it? Is there a wonderful lingering taste? Does it make you want to take a bite of your food, or go back and sip again?
- Finally, how does the wine make you feel? Skip the intellectual considerations and just be with it. Do you feel refreshed? Intrigued? Celebratory? Soothed? Uplifted? Heart-warmed? Satisfied?
Wasn’t that fun? By just slowing down a little, taking a moment to enjoy the wine, the entire meal is elevated. Now repeat steps 1 through 7. Tonight and every night.
| Leslie Brenner is a food and wine writer and author of Fear of Wine and The Fourth Star: Dispatches From Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant. She is also the author of the acclaimed novel, Greetings from the Golden State. |