How To Pour Wine

Whether you happen to be planning a lavish event, an intimate gathering, or a romantic date, knowing how to pour wine properly can really set the mood for the evening. If you’re going to invest in an expensive bottle of wine, make sure that you and your guests can fully savor it and enjoy a nice presentation. The steps are quite simple:

1. Get the temperature right. Make sure that sparkling wines and white wines have been properly chilled. Usually you must refrigerate a bottle of white wine for at least an hour before you want to open and pour it. For sparkling wine, try chilling it in a bucket of ice for an hour or two before pouring, so that it can get down to about 45 degrees. Also, never pour overly warm red wine. Try to keep the temperature around 60-65 degrees. On a super hot summer day, this might mean that you need to place it in the fridge for a very brief time before serving.
2. Pour wine in the correct glasses: When learning how to pour wine, first make sure you have wine glasses that match the type of wine you are serving. Sparkling wine is served in a long flute-shaped glass, red wine is poured in a rotund glass, and white wine should be served in a tulip-shaped glass.
3. The art of pouring: Red and white wine can be poured straight into the glass, while sparkling wine should be poured against the side of the glass to preserve the wine’s bubbles. If you are pouring chilled wine, you might want to wrap it in a towel to soak up any dripping moisture from the bottle. Never fill a wine glass further than halfway, so that people can swirl and take in the aroma of their wine before sipping. Fill a glass of red or white wine slowly, so that the wine never splashes. When you’re just finishing with your pouring, twist the bottle with your wrist a bit to prevent the wine from dripping.
4. For an extra fancy pouring: If you want to pour wine luxury-style, show the label to your date or guests before pouring and let them examine the cork. Then, pour out a small bit of the wine before serving it, so that it can be sampled and declared acceptable before being poured to guests around the table.