Let’s look at two types of rinsing: 1) Rinsing glasses after use and 2) rinsing glassware in order to serve more than one wine per glass.
1. Rinsing after use
For thin walled crystal or thin walled glass, it is best to rinse by hand. I recommend using a glass brush and minimal diluted detergent, using lukewarm water. Obviously, you’ll want to brush gently. Make sure all of the detergent is rinsed out. Let the glasses dry on a clean, dry cloth. To best polish glassware, steam over boiling water, then use a clean polishing cloth. To polish the bowl, cradle the bowl in one hand while polishing with the other hand. Never twist the bowl against the stem – something will break! To polish the stem or base, hold by the stem or base.
The problem with using a dishwasher is two-fold. You are more likely to break fine glassware and the glasses are more likely to contain detergent residue. If you must use a dishwasher, use only a tiny amount of detergent (gels or fine grain, preferably with glass guard like Cascade® with Shine Shield) and use cool water. Only wash glass with glass – never with plates or silverware.
Even a small amount of detergent residue can have a big impact on the wine therein. For still wine, residue can affect aroma and taste. Detergent residue can render sparkling wine, like Champagne, flat. The smooth surfaces of glassware absorb odors easily so smell the glasses before use, when they’re dry, for off-odors like soap, chlorine, etc. If detected, wash again!
By the way, lead leaches out of crystal when the glass is in contact with hot or even warm water. So no soaking and no hot water!
2. Rinsing for multiple wines
Sometimes, you are hosting a dinner or tasting and you don’t have enough glasses to provide one for every wine. What to do?
I do not recommend rinsing with water between wines; rather use wine to rinse. I believe that water residues can affect the taste of the wine, especially if the water is even slightly chlorinated. I also believe that there is a slight dilution factor and there might be a slight change in surface tension and mouth-feel of the wine. To be safe, rinse with wine. Use a tiny amount of the next wine to be served to rinse. This is also called “priming” the glass.
If you carefully order the wines to be tasted, you can minimize your rinsing. Go from white to red, from light body to fuller body, from dry to sweet. If you follow this order, you may not need to rinse at all. If you go from a hearty red with dinner to a white dessert wine, I recommend rinsing with a dry white or, if not available, then using water, providing a cloth to dry the bowl.
Priming Glassware
By the way, a small but growing number of high-end restaurants are having their sommeliers “prime” glassware by rinsing with a very small amount (half an ounce or less) of the wine to be served. They believe this improves the tasting experience by ridding the glass of impurities or possible off-odors. But I wonder if this is necessary if you properly clean and polish your glassware. Sometimes they leave the priming wine in the glass and then pour the serving over it. Why? Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of “priming”?
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( 2.9 / 130 )Believe it or not, decanting is controversial. Sommeliers discuss it and disagree, sometimes passionately. There is no absolute truth in decanting, as is true with many most vinous matters and, of course, life in general. Basically, it’s a matter of personal taste.
Decanting is done for two reasons:
- to aerate the wine
- to remove sediments, accumulated over time
The controversy revolves around the aeration of wines. No less an authority than the late Emile Peynaud, the great and influential French oenologist, has asserted that decanting should only be performed to remove deposits, and then just prior to serving. Peynaud felt that too much exposure to air diffuses a wines aroma and therefore some of the wine’s sensory attributes may be lost.
My experience, albeit with more modern, concentrated wines, leads me to feel differently. I’ve tracked the development of decanted wines over time in decanter, tasting periodically. I've found significant improvements in aroma and flavor development. So I decant young wines, even white wines, to aerate the wine to improve aroma and flavor development. It’s like ageing a wine instantly!
For my tastes, the issue is how long to decant. It’s largely an educated guess. Here’s a rough guide which should be followed with some caution (young wine = 1-3 years old, old wine is 10+ years):
Young Pinot Noir - 1-2 hours
Young Grand Cru red Burgundy - 1-4 hours
Young top tier classified Growth Bordeaux - 4-5 hours, first Growths more time
Young Syrah or Shiraz - 2-3 hours
Young Cabernet or blend - 2-3 hours
Young Zinfandel - 1 hour or less
Young Grand Cru white - 3 hours
Cheap daily drinker reds and whites – why bother? Enjoy now!
Old Bordeaux First Growth from great vintage - 2-18 hours*
Other old Bordeaux - 1-2 hours
Very old Bordeaux or top red Burgundy - less than 30 minutes**
Old California Cabernet - 2 hours
Quilceda Creek - 5-8 hours
It’s critical when decanting for aeration to check the wine periodically so you don’t overdo it. I’m frankly not satisfied with this guide as you need to have good knowledge of the particular wine to be decanted. It varies too much by producer and vintage for the above to be followed religiously. But it’s better than nothing! It will certainly horrify Sommeliers of Peynaud’s persuasion! For best results, ask your wine merchant or look up a reviewer’s tasting notes, if available. Big, concentrated young wines need more decanting time.
One other problem with decanting over a few hours is that the wine may warm up too much.
Double decanting is pouring the wine from bottle to decanter and then back to bottle, preferably after an hour or two in decanter. I prefer to double decant because it further aerates the wine, it is easier to pour wine from a bottle and because your guests can see the bottle and its label.
To double decant, you’ll need a funnel, preferably not plastic. Esquin sells an aerating funnel which I love and use – the Cascadia Wine Funnel. It has a big bowl (very important) and disperses the wine around the walls of the decanter.
If you decant to clarify or remove the wine of deposits, you'll need a steady hand and steady gaze, slowly and gently pouring the wine out of bottle so that the deposits are left in the bottle’s shoulder. To aide the process, a light, either a candle or flashlight can be used to track the movement of the deposits. Before such decanting, the bottle should be kept upright for a day.
As for decanters, there are many ways to go. I prefer the so-called ship’s decanter. With its wide, flat bottom, you get better aeration due to more of the wine’s surface area being exposed. But in a pinch, even a clean, dry water pitcher will do. Even small, carafe-style decanters are fine – especially when double decanting. When buying a decanter there’s no need to spend big dollars. You can find good decanters from $10-$50. We have a nice selection at Esquin.
What about all those gimmicks that promise to improve wine instantly? So far, I’ve had mixed results with Eisch’s so-called “breathable” glassware. The Nuance Wine Finer seems to work well.
Other approaches are less successful and get the “thumbs down”:
- Sphere oxygenating decanter - a mess which doesn’t work and is difficult to clean
- Rouge electric aerator – are you kidding me?
- Wine Fall aerator – questionable results, difficult to clean like the sphere
- Vinturi Wine Aerator – not yet tested by me but looks too violent on the wine and may be difficult to clean. I’ll check it out soon.
- deSign Wine Aerator – manhandles the wine, does not appear to work, expensive.
Since decanting seems to be a very personal, individual issue, I’d love to hear your thoughts or read your posted replies.
* I once decanted a 1982 Mouton for 5 hours. It wasn’t near enough! I should have decanted it at least 12 or more hours before serving!
** These wines are mature and may be quite delicate. They should be decanted, not for aeration, but rather to remove accumulated sediments and deposits, and just prior to serving.
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( 3 / 120 )Fall 2008 Wine Class Schedule - All Sundays
at the Warwick Seattle Hotel, 401 Lenora Street
full details are available by clicking on the red highlighted link
Introduction to Wine Series
Classes may be taken singly or as the entire series
September 7th – The History of Wine
September 14th – Wine Term Glossary, Grapes, Basics of Viticulture and Winemaking
September 21st - Spain
September 28th – Italy
October 5th - France
October 12th – New World Wines
October 19th – Wine/Food pairing, Germany
Pronounce European Wines with Confidence - October 26th
Italy In-Depth: The Center (Tuscany, Umbria, etc.) – November 2nd
Italy In-Depth: The North (Piedmont, Veneto, etc.) – November 9th
7th Annual Champagne & Caviar Celebration – November 16th
The Story of Ancient Wine: Myth, Mystery and Religion – November 23rd
All about Port! Wine Tasting and Seminar – December 7th
Bordeaux In-Depth: The Left Bank – December 14th
Bordeaux In-Depth: The Right Bank – December 21st
No Classes on November 30th or December 28th
Introduction to Wine Series begins January 4, 2009!
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( 2.7 / 92 )If you have a basement in your house, and your budget or energy does not allow for a full-on temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar, then you may safely store wine for long periods.
The basement must be underground with at least one open wall against earth. This can provide an ideal place for wine storage as it should maintain cool, stable temperatures.
The ideal is 55 degrees Fahrenheit with 80% humidity. but I find wine pretty resilient. For long-term ageing, Try to keep it below 60 degrees year ‘round. I recommend you buy a wall thermometer to monitor the area.
Use only non-coated, unvarnished wood racking like redwood cedar or un-painted steel racking. I do not recommend long-term storage in cardboard boxes. Check out racking options and accessories at International Wine Accessories, The Wine Enthusiast or similar sites.
Other, higher-end wine storage solutions include sealed, controlled free-standing cellars (refrigerated wine cabinets) which you can purchase at the companies mentioned above. They’re great if you have an apartment, condo or lack a below ground basement.
For large cellars, you can hire a specialist, like Bellevue’s Apex Wine Cellars, to install a permanent cellar or hire a contractor to install the new Spiral Cellars at home. Often it pays to hire a cellar consultant to optimize your cellar design and budget.
Finally, you can always let me show you Esquin's first-class wine storage at our store!
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( 3.2 / 95 )These are times that try our wines. If you don’t have a wine cooler at home or keep your wine at a local wine storage facility like Esquin’s, you risk “cooking” your better wines if it gets too hot – like today’s 95 degrees!
What to do, especially if you’re on a tight budget? Buy a picnic cooler, 48 Quart size is fine, if you don’t already have one. Not a Styrofoam cooler but rather a good, insulated, sealable cooler. They cost under $20 and they can hold up to 10 or more bottles. Next buy several re-usable ice packs, always keeping a few extra in the freezer. These ice packs cost under $1 each.
Change the ice packs at least every morning and your wine should remain cool during even Summer’s hottest days!
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( 2.8 / 101 )
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