The Five-Minute Chill
When it comes to buying red wine in a restaurant, I have one very big pet peeve. Almost always, by the glass or by the bottle, restaurants serve red wine too warm. Ask for an ice bucket with your red wine and hope the reaction isn’t “huh?” But any red wine tastes better on the cool side. The Europeans have known this for years, but we never translated this accurately in the U.S. The term “cellar temp” subtly morphed into the more American modern “room temp.” But the concept is clear. That cool cellar is not only great for aging wine, it brings the wine to the perfect “drinking temp.” No cellar at home? Fifteen minutes in your ‘fridge will do the trick. Want to open it now? Slip a “wine sleeve” around the bottle. You keep a wine sleeve in the freezer and pull it out when all you want is five minutes between you and that bottle of red you just picked up at the store. While you’re reaching for the glasses and throwing some crackers and cheese together, your red wine is reaching its delicious peak of flavor. You’ll notice the difference! About $12.
Keep It Alive
Once a bottle of wine is opened, its life span shortens, on the fast track. Initially, the wine breathes and releases its aromas and entices you to drink it. But at the same time, it is literally dying. Think of an apple or banana you’ve cut in half on the kitchen counter. You forget about it, come back to it an hour later and voila, it has changed. It’s a bit shrunken, it’s slightly brown, and its fruity flavor has diminished. Same with wine. I’m convinced that there’s a lot of dying wine in our nation’s bars and restaurants, as well as in our own refrigerators, that have long since seen their prime. Private Preserve to the rescue. Private Preserve is a wine’s lifesaver in a can. For about $10, you can save the lives of 120 bottles of wine. This handy spray can floats a blanket of wine-friendly gasses (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and argon—all safely inert) on top of the wine, keeping oxygen out. Let me tell you, it really works. Squirt some in the bottle, stick the cork back in (or screw the cap back on) and you can finish that wine later—hours, days or even a couple of weeks (come on, what are you waiting for?), confident that it will be as good as it was when you first opened it. It might even be …better.
Holiday Wine that’s Good All the Time…Sparkling Shiraz
Here’s a wine that at first blush, boggles the mind. Let’s see; it’s red, it’s bubbly and you serve it cold. Hmmm. Let me tell you, it is delicious! Shiraz is the red grape that boosted Australia on to the new world wine map about ten years ago. The “regular red” version is a big seller in the U.S. The sparkling version is a newcomer to this country, and not easily available everywhere. It’s worth searching out, as it’s very fruity, very dry and surprisingly, less tannic than its “regular red” version. I think it’s because those tannins are trumped by the bubbles. Serve it at a party and it’s a real conversation starter. Once you get over its peculiarity, I’ll bet your impression of a sparkling shiraz will be festive, flavorful and …wow!
Three reasons to drink sparkling wine (or Spanish cava, Italian prosecco or French Champagne…) all year:
- Huge variety of styles and prices in the market
- Never high in alcohol
- Goes great with popcorn
