Drink what you like and store it well: Simple tips on wine appreciation

I can’t forget the time I opened a bottle of merlot, poured myself a glass, and sipped on what tasted more like vinegar than wine. I found myself setting aside the wineglass for the first time, and feeling bad for having to throw the wine away. I considered using it for cooking, but I thought that it might affect the food’s taste in a bad way.

Have you had a similar experience where you were expecting a good glass of vino but got rancid wine instead?

It turns out that storage and service can affect your wine drinking experience. Generally, we Filipinos aren’t wine drinkers—well, not like the French anyway, but don’t let that intimidate you. Anyone can develop a greater appreciation for wine by following these simple tips.

1. Drink what you like

According to Laurent Ducourneau, founder of wine cellar technology firm Vintec, “what makes a good wine is what you like—more than anything.” He compared wine to books where you may like certain titles or authors; wine is the same story. “It doesn’t mean that because you like it now, it will still be the one you like later,” he said.

At an event held by Cellar Solutions, which opened its first showroom in the Philippines, Ducourneau revealed that he had his first taste of wine at the age of 13, and that his family enjoyed wine with almost every meal.

He is fond of cabernets sauvignon and merlots from the Bordeaux region, which he is from, but stressed that everybody has their own favorites, depending on where they're from. “I was raised there with this kind of taste, so for me, that’s the benchmark. It shouldn’t be the benchmark of everybody,” he said.

“Depending on where you come from, where you have been raised, what kind of food you’ve been raised with, that will always be the best food in the world. Can’t change that. Wine is the same. Depends on where you’ve been, where you live, what is your taste.”

2. Use the right wine glass

The right stemware is also key to fully appreciate wine. Larger wineglasses are ideal for full-bodied red wines, while the smaller ones are for white wines. Red wines are best served in tapered glasses that allow the liquid to breathe and promote better flavor, as it releases its aroma.

Ducourneau points out the benefits of tapered glasses, saying that the the liquid gets flat at the bottom of the relatively wide bowl and exposed to the air. “[It] makes the wine interact with the oxygen very fast. It gets all the flavor opening and then the small nose [top] will concentrate the flavor on one outlet,” he said.

3. Store wine properly

Most people also have the misconception that wine needs to be kept at the perfect temperature and never be exposed to heat says Ducourneau. “Wines are not so fragile,” he said. “If it’s fragile, there would be no wine industry, no wine business. So, it’s only that if you want to drink the best conditions, it’s good to keep it in right temperature.”

When you start buying wine, you need a place to store it. For those buy wine off the shelves and plan to consume it in a week or two, there is no need to store it in a wine cabinet. But if you plan to keep the bottle for five years or more, then you would need a proper place to store it.

Ducourneau mentioned that ideally, wine should be stored at a steady temperature. “Twelve to 15 degrees at the most. Good humidity level of about 50 percent. No vibration, if possible, or very little. Darkness and good ventilation to prevent bad smell from going into the cork. Once you have this, then you have a proper place to store your wine.”

Serious wine aficionados who can afford it should consider getting a wine preservation system. Whether you’re a wine lover or a retailer, you can find something for your wine preservation needs. It’s now easy to enjoy wine at its optimum with all the available wine storage technology.

But before planning on getting your own wine cabinet or cellar, make sure to expose yourself to different kinds of wine—the good ones at that, so you would be more inclined to make a selection of your own and be able to distinguish the good kind of vino from the rest. — BM, GMA News

The Cellar Solutions showroom is in L&H Building at 2310 Chino Roces St., Makati City.