So you’re not drinking Carlo from a red cup anymore; congratulations! But you're unsure what to do next. Here’s a few situations you might find yourself in and how to fix them.
Wait, there’s different glasses for red and white wine? Red wine glasses have a larger bowl for the wine to be swirled around and breathe more. White wine glasses are typically smaller. You won’t ruin the experience by drinking wine out of the wrong glass unless you’re drinking with the absolute connoisseur, but it still makes you look knowledgeable.
Proper temperature White wine is typically served chilled, but serving it too cold can mask some of the true flavors of the wine. Serving it right out of the fridge is way too cold, let it warm up to about 45 degrees. Red doesn’t usually get chilled, but serving it too warm can give the wine a weird taste and throw off the balance of flavors. 60 degrees is a good temperature for red, plus or minus a few is fine. That’s below room temperature by the way.
Fancy stuff like decanters Aged red wines are best for using the more obscure decanter. Wine that’s been aging in a bottle can often be overpowered by sediment. Decanting can also benefit the most inexpensive of wines (hello Cavit!) and reveal the youthful grippy nature of young wines.
