Serve and Savour Australian Wines

A variety of glass sizes and shapes are available for serving wines and spirits. Stemware is best for wines. The sizes and shapes above are the most common. The glassware’s size and shape is almost as important as the wine being poured.

Choosing the proper glassware for each variety of wine, can enhance the taste, the body, the aroma and the ultimate enjoyment of the wine. There are techniques for serving wines and selecting wines for your guests. The glassware’s size and shape is almost as important as the wine being poured.

Tips and Tricks

Serve white wine before red wines. Lighter wines before heavier wines.

Simple meals are enhanced when paired with complex wines. Complex meals can be enjoyed with simpler wines. It’s all a matter of taste.

When pouring your wine, slightly twist your wrist to the right as you finish pouring wine into the glass, before quickly tilting the bottle upright. This will help eliminate drips from the mouth of the bottle.

When you have washed your wine glasses, rinse them at least twice to get all the detergents out, as detergents can change the way the wine tastes.

Ideal Alcohol Serving Temperatures

Red Wines are best at room temperature, or below, if the weather is hot.
Serve red wines in large, open-bowled glasses, due to the wines tannins. The flavor of the wine improves with oxygen and the open bowl allows enough area for swirling and enjoying the “nose.”  (The “nose is all of the various aromas coming out of the wine.)


White Wines – 6-8 °C/43° F- 46° F
White wines are generally served in smaller-bowled wine glasses to keep the wine cooler.


Rosé Wines – 6-8°C/43° F- 46° F
Rosés are best served in a glass with a smaller bowl, to keep the wine cooler.


Sparkling Wine: 8-10°C / 46° F - 50° F
Use a tall, fluted or tulip shaped glass to contain the bubbles and to retain its effervescence (i.e. Keep it fizzy.)

Decanting Red Wines

Decanting allows wines to breathe. It “mellows” young wines. Allowing a young wine to air can “age” the wine.

Decanting wines also separates the wine from any sediments.

Older wines should be decanted less than 1 hour before a meal.

Young wines should be decanted 2-3 hours before a meal.


Tasting Wines — The Five S’s

See – Look at the wine, checking its clarity, sediment, and the colour of the wine. The colour of wine will tell you the intensity of the wine about to be tasted.

Swirl – Swirl the glass on the table, rotate your glass, this aerates the wine, swirling helps the wine interact with oxygen releasing aromas before smelling the wine. If there is high sugar content, it will leave streaks in the glass. (Called ‘legs’ or ‘tears’).

Smell – Holding the stem, place your nose inside and inhale. Never sniff the cork (there is no need as that is not where the smell is) however looking at it will indicate cracks, mould, and seepage. Sniffing the wine will tell you how intense the wine is, does it remind you of fruit, flowers etc.

Sip – Never drink the wine. Sip the wine and allow the wine to roll around in your mouth 3-5 seconds to coat your mouth so as to detect its overall structure. You will be thinking about its textures, flavours, and weight. By letting in oxygen to mix in with your wine (en mouth) you will get to know the full profile of the wine.

Savour – When you swallow the wine, you will get a different taste to that during the above procedures. By doing this you will be able to see the wine’s balance, and detect any notes of domination or not.


Champagne or Sparkling Wine?

Most of us love champagne. We enjoy hearing the distinctive “pop,” wondering if, and how far, the cork will go flying. We look forward to the effervescence and drinking those sharp bubbles... it really is an amazing beverage. Have you ever wondered what the etiquette for champagne is? Here are a few points on this special commodity:

1. The name champagne is protected by Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne and can be only used by the growers of that French region. In Australia the wording used is “sparkling wine.”

2. Sparkling wines must be chilled before serving. There are a few ways to chill wine, put the wine in the refrigerator and chill to 8-10°C/46- 50°F  or 3 hours. Putting it in ice and a bucket should take approximately 30 minutes to chill, and water will help bring the temperature down.

3. When uncorking the bottle, hold the cork and twist the bottle not the cork, Hold your glass upright rather than tilting your glass.  When pouring into the glass, fill it only a third of the way up. Never fill it to the top.

4. When uncorked, sparkling wine does not need to be left to breathe, like a red wine. When pouring, the wine will air and that is all it needs. It will keep for approximately 24 hours in the refrigerator with a wine stopper. You will be surprised how well sparkling wines will keep in this manner.

For many years, Etiquipedia contributor, Elizabeth Soos, has had a keen interest in cultural customs. With her European background and extensive travel, Soos developed an interest in the many forms of respect and cultural expectations in the countries she has visited. With her 20 years’ experience in customer service within private international companies based in Australia, and her lifetime interest in manners and research, she decided to branch out into the field of etiquette and deportment. Through her self-directed studies and by completing the Train-The-Trainer’s course offered by Emma Dupont’s School of Etiquette in London and by Guillaume Rue de Bernadac at Academie de Bernadac based in Paris and Shanghai, she founded Auersmont School of Etiquette.

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Wine Pronunciation and Terms

Etiquette of Wine

 

 It has become the norm for at least three different wines to be served at a formal dinner, though the amount really depends on the hosts of the meal and the number of courses being served. Pairing foods with different types of wines is a relatively recent culinary art. It has developed and fostered a host of books and guidelines for the pairings of a variety of foods and particular wines to go with them. In restaurants which offer excellent wines, sommeliers are often on hand to make food pairing recommendations for those who may be unsure of their choices. The idea behind the pairing of foods with certain wines, is the belief that elements such as texture, aroma and flavor in both the food and the wine, will interact with one another, and finding the perfect balance of the two, will make one’s meal more enjoyable and memorable. But as taste is subjective from one palate to the next, there are those who feel wines should be enjoyed without advice from “experts” on the subject.

“Sip Your Wine  – Do Not Guzzle”

– Wine Institute Speaker

To enjoy the aroma or bouquet, the beauty of color and taste, wine should be sipped and not guzzled. This was the statement of H. F. Stoll of the Wine Institute of California in speaking to the Madera Rotary club today. Wine should be taken a bit at a time for greatest enjoyment, much as one eats bread with a meal. Wine was never intended to be used for its “kick.” The red table wines should be used with red meats and white wines with fish or fowl. Sweet wines are used as refreshers or appetizers. 

The talk of the intoxicating affect of champagne was declared bunk; and that the alcoholic content of champagne is low. Table wines, when once uncorked and only partly used, should be tightly corked and turned upside down to preserve them indefinitely, otherwise air will enter the bottle and it will sour. The speaker declared that the Wine Institute is doing much to debunk the foreign theories on use of wine and to educate people to the proper use and etiquette of serving wine. – Madera Tribune, 1942

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette Outside of Prohibition

Partying like it's 1922

Imbibing Outside US' 18th Amendment

From the alcoholic beverages of the chafing-dish supper to those of the dinner is a natural transition. At the formal dinner wines often accompany the courses and, as already mentioned, liqueurs and cordials supply the final liquid note after the coffee. The theory of alcoholic beverages at the formal dinner is a simple one. Certain fixed and definite rules obtain and are generally observed. Three wines may be served, though the best social form prefers one or two.

Sherry or Madeira

Sherry or Madeira may accompany the soup course. They should be poured after the soup has been placed, and served from a decanter. In general wine should always be poured slowly, and glasses should be filled only two-thirds. The etiquette is for the waitress to pour a little wine into the host's glass, then filling the glasses beginning at the host's right. Sherry should always be served cold, at a temperature of 40° Fahrenheit; the Madeira may be served at a temperature of 65°F, or that of the room.

Sauterne or Rhine Wine

Sauterne or Rhine Wine go with the fish course. They are poured, like the Claret, at the end of the preceding course, before the next course comes on. They (like Sparkling Burgundy and Champagne) are served from the bottle, and the bottle should be held in a folded napkin or bottle holder. The mean average temperature of Sauterne should be 50°F. Some prefer it decidedly cold (chilled in the icebox), others only slightly cold. Rhine Wine should always be cold: 40°F.

Claret

Claret is the wine for the entree and, as a rule, is served from a claret pitcher. Being a light wine, it may be served with the Champagne and instead of it to those who do not prefer the Mumm. Claret should be poured at the end of the course immediately before the one with which it is served. The room temperature or one of 65°F is the proper one for Claret.

Champagne, Burgundy or Port

These wines are served with the meat courses. In order that Champagne or Sparkling Burgundy may come on the table at the proper temperature (Champagne 35° and Burgundy 70° F) it must be ice-packed for several hours before serving. Care must be taken, however, that it does not frappe when, if required at short notice, it is salt-and-ice packed half an hour before serving. 

Sweet Champagne, on the other hand, is improved in flavor if slightly frappeed. It should always be served very cold. Like Sauterne, Champagne and Burgundy are served from the bottle. In serving them the wire should be cut, and the cork carefully worked out of the bottle by pressing it up with the thumbs. It is wise to work out the cork under the edge of the table, since it is sometimes projected with much power. The temperature for Port is 55° F.

Cordials and Liqueurs

Cordial glasses holding a small quantity are used for serving these sweet, aromatic beverages. Cordials are served plain, with crushed ice or with cream. In serving Creme de Menthe the straw is unusual in private home service, though customary in some hotels. Creme de Menthe glasses should be filled two-thirds full with fine crushed ice, then a little of the cordial poured over it. Chartreuse (green or yellow), Benedictine, Grenadine, Apricot Brandy, Curacoa, and Dantzig Eau de Vie arc usually served without additions or ice. 

Benedictine or Creme de Cacoa, however, may be served with a dash of plain or whipped cream. The exceedingly sweet Creme Yvette should he served with cracked ice, like Creme de Menthe. Noyau, Kirschwasser, Maraschino and Grenadine may be served as cordials, or reserved for the flavoring of puddings, ices and sauces.—From Lillian B. Lansdown's, 1922 “How to Prepare and Serve a Meal; and Interior Decoration” 

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia Etiquette Encyclopedia