All About Wine And Its Goodness!

Table etiquette is something of a monster in the closet at the dinner party, and an unnecessary stress maker for even the best dinner hosts. And when it comes down to it, you guests are indifferent at best, and probably intimidated at worst. Do you find yourself looking up the rudiments of place setting through Google as you lay the table? You can bet your friends and family are doing the same under the table with their smartphones whilst you have a breakdown about the unequally sized candles. However, there are some standards worth keeping up with, and it’s my honest opinion that glassware is worth the hassle of researching. Correctly setting out the wine glass is a show of class that will strike a chord with your guests, without causing them any additional stress. For the majority, wine is a luxury drink served only on special occasions. Getting things right is also entirely in your hands: as a good host, you should be pouring the wine anyway, keeping your guests happy.

Unless you’re entertaining royalty, or the rest of the upper crust, ‘the wrong glass’ is simply the glasses you use every day for tap water. But the use of various shapes of wine glasses isn’t there to simply make your life harder. They have genuine presentational benefits, and even if a great wine will arguably taste great whatever you drink it from, there are still arguably some taste benefits from getting it all set up correctly.

White wine glasses are long stemmed with a small bowl shape. Whyfor? Because you should be serving your white wine chilled, and the stem and bowl arrangement ensure that neither you nor the air warm the wine. Red wine glasses have a wider bowl with a short stem. Again, the temperature here is key: red wine is a room temperature wine. The wide tops also ensure that the more fragrant Red Wines can give off their aroma. Champagne glasses? Their flute-like shape preserves the bubbles.

Before you think about setting the menu when having guest for dinner it is always helpful to think about the variety of wine that you are choosing. Perceptions of the wine that is being drunk can be influenced by the shape of the glass they are drinking from.

If you are not used to choosing the right type of wine to suit your meal. As a rule of thumb we would suggest that white wine suits fish, pasta, pizza and cheese dishes – possibly some chicken dishes, whereas red wine would better drunk with red meat such as beef.

There are two types of wine glasses these are:

White glasses

The white wine glass is generally composed of the parts: the bowl, stem and foot. To allow for some oxidization of the wine white wine glasses have a narrow bowl. Even though you may not think so there is a lot of variance in the types of white wine glasses that are available to buy and come in a variety different shapes and sizes. There is usually a thinner lip to the mouth of white wine glasses that are made from blown glass and more acceptable for white wine drinkers. White wines like the buttery Chardonnay prefer a wider bowl.

Red wine glasses

Usually red wine glasses are quite large – very useful if you enjoy red wine! There are usually round bowls at the base of the glass allowing the air to react with the wine more. When this happens, the wine brings out an array of aromas that were dormant before. Some red wine glasses are designed differently. The mouth of the red wine glass usually has a wide mouth which is designed for the wine drinker to be able to nose the aroma of the wine while taking a sip from the glass.. A large wine glass also gives plenty of room for the drinker to swirl meaning that your wine will be able to breath easier.

If you think of a picnic, what thoughts come into your head? Is it being in the country and what is going to affect your senses? Is it the thought of tucking in to the fruits of your labour and eating the food? Or is it the thought that when you have settled down in your chosen location, you are going to reward yourself with a glass of wine? The truth should be a little of most of these. Not only will you be healthy by being outside of your house. You food is likely to be prepared by yourself at home, and be fresh and healthy.

So what wine should be the perfect accompanyment to the picnic? This, to me, is a matter of taste and whether you have sufficient means at your disposal to keep a white wine nice and cool. If this is not possible, go for a simple red like a Fitou or a Chianti. This red always goes down nicely with a little bit of strong cheese. My wife is Spanish, so we are never short of some tasty Manchego, which is similar to strong Cheddar. With a good bottle of wine, should be some decent wine glasses. Is it a good idea to be taking glassware along with you to use on the picnic? It is heavy to carry, and usually gets broken. I like to take plastic glasses with me, which are durable and light. The trade off is that there can often be a slight loss of taste. What appeals to me is the different shapes for different types of wine. A red wine glass is normally large and volumous, allowing the flavours to be inhaled. A white wine glass tends to be typically smaller as the flavours are generally more subtle.

Whatever you choose, just make sure that you find somewhere where you can relax and forget the pressures of your everyday lifestyle.