Maize Valley Market & Winery

Serving Wine

Wine turns an ordinary menu into a feast, inspires dinner conversation, and bring forth the pleasures of the table. We'd like to offer few simple suggestions for serving wine under the best conditions to further enhance your experience.

Serving wine at the right temperature

Temperature affects the flavor and taste of wine almost more than anything else. Red wine should be somewhat cooler than room temperature, but by no means warm. A bottle of red wine that appears warm to the touch ought to be refrigerated until the bottle seems cool not cold. White wine tastes best chilled, but not so cold that the flavors are masked-think somewhat warmer than a glass of cold milk. To chill a bottle quickly, fill a bucket with ice and water and let sit for approximately fifteen to thirty minutes. Remove the bottle before serving, or it will continue to chill. To keep white wine chilled after removing it from the refrigerator, fill up a container with ice and rest the bottle on top of the ice.

Pouring with finesse

Wine often drips when poured, but there are a several ingenious ways to prevent this. One is to insert a small, round disk, often called Drop Stops, into the mouth of the bottle. This will push any drips that form to roll back into the bottle. You may also place a fabric-lined ring around the top of the bottle to catch any wine that rolls down the side. Both items are obtainable in fine wine shops and house ware stores. On the other hand, you may always perfect the "pour and roll." As you finish pouring, curl the bottle slightly as you pull it up and away from glass. This technique is nearly foolproof for preventing spills, but you should keep a napkin nearby just in case.

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