Doubsts and advices from the enologist

What is the ideal temperature to serve a white wine?

If we are trying a young white wine the recommended temperature is around 49 º F, if it is a aged white wine we can increased the recommended temperature up to 52 ºF.

How can we cool the wine to the correct temperature?

The easiest way to cool the wine is to use cold water and ice in a small container. We only need 9 minutes to cool a red wine from 75ºF down to 64 ºF

Is it true that wines must be consumed at enviromental temperature?

If environmental temperature is 86 ºF do you think we need to try the wine at this temperature?
It is a common error to think red wine must be consumed at environmental temperature. Depending on the kind of wine, if it is young, aged, reserva or gran reserva the best temperatures for the red wines go from 61º F up to 68ºF. If temperature is higher, we would need to cool the wine, but not using the cooler as many people do. On the other hand if the wine has been kept in a cold place we must heat it just leaving it at environmental temperature for at least one hour before trying it.

At what temperature we should served the young wines, aged, reservas and gran reserva?

The red young wines should be served at 61ºF, the aged wines should be served between 63ºF and 65ºF and finally reserves and grandes reserves at 68ºF

At what temperature must be served the rosés wines?
The best temperature to served the rosés wines is 54 ª F

What is the correct order to serve the wines?

The order to taste the wines should be increasing the sensations, generally first of all we serve the white wines, then the rosés and finally the red wines, the last wines to be served are the sweet wines. In a wine taste we always try first the young wines.

When opening a bottle of wine, do I need to introduce the corkscrew till the end of the cork?

The corkscrew must be introduced from the middle of the cork, trying not to make violent movements while the corkscrew has been introduced. We must try not get to the end of the cork to avoid any particles to the wine. We cannot turn the bottle but the corkscrew and we must take the cork slightly and carefully.

I have a small basket to serve the wine, can I use it with any wine?

The baskets to serve the wine are useful to avoid any particles to get in the wine. The problem is that you can only serve half of the bottle, by the way the level decreases it is necessary to turn the bottle so that the dregs also.
Basket to serve wines has sense with wines at least 10 years old.

How should I cut the capsule?

The capsule must not be cut on the edge of the bottle. It is convenient to cut it under the bottle’s neck and then clean it.

What does it means a franc wine?

A franc wine is a wine without defects, in mouth nor in nose.

Why does sometimes the cork smells?

The reason why the cork smells is the TCA, is a component with high contents in clorofenols. It smells as mould. The origin of TCA though it is the most usual is not only in the cork, sometimes comes also from the barrels or from the places where the wine has been stored.

What does enology means?

Spanish dictionary defines enology as the global knowledge related with the elaboration of wines. Anyway we can complement this definition and add that enology is everything related with wine knowledge, vinification techniques and the art of elaborating and producing wines.
The word enology comes from Greece and means “oeonos”, wine and “logos” science, so enology is the science of the elaboration of wine.

Where is the correct place to store wines at home?

The best place for keeping wines are usually the acclimatised coolers, anyway this storage is a bit expensive.
The facts we must consider in order to get our wines perfectly store are, first of all a calm place with not too much light. The wine must be kept in a place where there are not many changes in temperatures. A place without any odours, for this reason the kitchen is not a good place where to store wines, though is a place commonly used for storage.

Is a better wine when we can keep it for longer?

Each wine has it moment for being consumed. There are excellent wines that need to be consumed in a short period of time, and this does not means that it is a worse wine than other that can be consumed during a long period.
Each wine is unique and has a period of time to be consumed; a short period to be consumed does not necessary means that the wine is worse than other that can be consumed for a long period. Generally the aged wines are more expensive than the younger ones, but there are different wines, and we have always to compare similar wines.

When should the red, rosés and white wines been consumed?

The young white wines without any oaking should be consumed during the first two years, anyway there are not rules as is some cases there are some white wines from some varieties that can be better in it’s third year. The rosés young wines should also be consumed in the first two years also, but there are some rosés which are aged in oak barrels that can be consumed after as their freshness can be kept for a olonger period of time.
The red wines have a longer life young wines, aged, reservas and grandes reserves can be consumed between two or ten years depending or the kind of wine.

What does it jeans an astringent wine?

Astringent means the rough sensation you get in mouth when trying a wine, this sensation is produced because of the tanines of the wine.

Why it is used very few wine for tasting?

The tasting cups should be filled only 1/3 of their total capacity (approximately 50 ml) as if we use more or less wine we would not be able to appreciate the colour. This amount of wine is perfect so we can spin it easily without spoiling any wine and in this way we can appreciate better the aromas.

What are the ideal tasting conditions?

Environmental temperature should be between 64 ºF and 72 ºF, we should have good lighting, not noise an humidity between 70 and 80 % and the wines must be served in the correct order.

For doing a good tasting, it is necessary to go a bit hungry?

The best for doing a good tasting is to be sain, if you have a cool you cannot appreciate the wine, we also recommend to taste a bit hungry, without having smoked or eat aromatic food within the last two or three hours.

What are the primary, secondary and the third aroma in a wine?

The aromas are nose sensations given by the wine. The primary aromas are the ones that come from the grapes, the secondary are the aromas we get from the fermentation and the third aromas are the aromas are produced during the madaratiuon and the aging of the wine.

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