As well as developing our knowledge so that we can choose wines with confidence, our enjoyment of wine can be enhanced by understanding the basic rules for correct storage and serving so that the wine can be experienced at its best.
The world of wine labelling is confusing. It’s not that there isn’t enough information on labels, it’s just that each country – and often each wine region within a country – has its own system for presenting information on the label. Let’s look at a few examples from around the world of wine.
This is a typical French label from a classic wine region, with all the information you need to establish the quality level and origins of the wine:
Cru Bourgeois is an official classification for Bordeaux.
Château Lamothe Bergeron is the name of the wine.1988 is the vintage date (the year of production).
12% is the alcohol level of the wine, and opposite, the bottle volume.
The Appellation Contrôlée of this wine. ‘AC’ is the sign of highest quality in France. Each wine area his its own controlling body which ensures standards. Very popular now is the classification ‘IGP’, formerly known as ‘Vin de Pays’. These ‘Country Wines’ include much average wine, but due to complex regional laws, also some real gems where the producer chooses to grow certain grapes at the expense of gaining a higher quality designation.
Mis en Bouteille en Château means the wine was blended and bottled by the proprietor, not blended by a third party.
The label below comes from the Rioja region of Spain:
La Rioja Alta is the producer.
Vina Ardanza is the name of the wine and below, the equivalent of Mis en Bouteille au Château: bottled by the proprietor.
Reserva is the quality classification of the wine – there are strict rules for what is plain Rioja, Rioja Reserva, and Rioja Gran Reserva.
Denominación de Origen Calificada – the official stamp of quality in Rioja.
German labels are notoriously difficult. Apart from the problems Germany brought upon itself during the 1970s and 80s by bottling huge amounts of cheap wines for the UK market, it has always had another problem with the consumer: its seemingly obscure and certainly complicated labeling.
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer – specified region of origin.1989er – year of vintage
Avelsbacher Avelsbach is the Village
Hammerstein the vineyard from which the wine comes.
Riesling – grape variety.
Kabinett is a degree of quality within the…
Qualitätswein mit Prädikat category, which is Germany’s highest category. Lesser wines are marked simply, ‘Qualitätswein’ or ‘QbA’. Below this comes ‘Tafelwein’.
AP number – strict legal tests have been completed on this wine.
Erzeugerabfüllung – the equivalent of Mis en Bouteille au Château again – producer bottled.
There are obviously many factors that affect the amount any of us will pay for a bottle of wine. Apart from the differences in how much each of us can afford to spend on a luxury item like wine, we are likely to pay a lot less for our everyday wine than for a bottle to celebrate a special occasion. Supermarkets have increased their share of the wine retailing market dramatically over the past decade or so. With their relentless pursuit of price-cutting to out-do the competition, wines are now as cheap in relative terms as they have ever been.
The average supermarket stocks wines in the rough price range of £5.00 to £20.00. A detailed look at the proportion of a £4.99 bottle that is made up of non-wine costs (as of 2019) might be quite surprising:
| 1. HM Customs & Excise Duty 2. Shipping 3. Bottle, Cork, Capsule & Label Sub Total VAT @ 20% Total |
£2.23 £0.25 £0.40 £2.88 £0.83 £3.71 |
And that is before the retailer takes their profit (normally around 25% of selling price). In this case that would be £1.25, so our £4.99 wine costs £4.96 before a drop of wine is put in it…
That tells you something about the actually quality of £4.99 wines, but the good news is that the first three of those costs are fixed costs, so for every extra pound you spend on a bottle, the majority goes on the liquid inside. The great psychological consumer barrier of £4.99 is perhaps a thing of the past, and few of us expect to pay £4.99 for a really nice bottle.
There is still a great pressure on retailers to offer sub £6.00 wines however – the next psychological barrier. I firmly believe that the wise wine lover really benefits if they can up their basic spending level by a pound or so. At around £8.00-£9.00 a whole new range of possibilities opens up, with wines made by producers who are not so constrained by impossibly low margins, and have a chance to add real character to their wines. As a general rule, I would always spend my money on three genuinely interesting £8 bottles, than four easy-drinking, but probably dull, £6 bottles.
The price of fine wines – particularly those from Bordeaux and Burgundy – is like a runaway train at the moment, fuelled by speculators and ‘tiger economy’ buyers who are willing to spend fortunes in auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s to secure the great names. These wines are now out of the reach of many ordinary wine lovers: top Bordeaux can fetch £10,000 per case, or £1000.00 per bottle.
Superb though these wines are, there are plenty of alternatives in purely value-for-money terms: extremely well made, complex, delicious wines in the £8-£20 price bracket that are also of the quality necessary to merit longer term cellaring. From the ‘lesser’ regions of France, Italy and Spain, and from new world countries such as Australia, Chile, South Africa and the USA, come a host of individual and profound wines – many of which can rival prestige bottles at twice the price. As your interest in wine grows, you may become tempted to visit some specialist wine retailers rather than supermarkets.
If buying older wines (say reds with vintage dates more than four years old, whites more than two years old), it pays to check the condition of the bottle: some retailers do not look after wines on their shelves adequately, keeping them standing upright in hot, dry conditions where the wine can maderise (in other words, ‘cook’). Tell-tale signs of this include seepage from beneath the capsule, running down the side of the bottle, corks pushed out so that they strain against the capsule, and low fill-levels where some wine has evaporated. Avoid such bottles, or if you risk one, keep the receipt and don’t be scared to return it if it proves unacceptable.
Your wine ‘cellar’ might be anything from a proper, underground cellar filled with expensive rarities, to a few bottles kept on a rack in the kitchen. In either case, there are certain requirements for maintaining wine in good condition that you should know. In modern, centrally heated, well insulated houses, some of these conditions are hard to find, though this is only really a problem if you have wines you intend to keep for the mid- to long-term – say 3- to 10-years or more.
What to cellar?
Not all wines are suitable for longer term storage. If stored correctly almost all red wines will stay in good condition for two or three years after release, whereas most white wines are best drunk within a year or so. Beyond that, only certain wines are considered to be worth ‘laying down’. With such wines, we hope that not only will they keep for 10 years, but that they will evolve positively in that time, gaining complexity
and subtlety as they mature.
Red wines suitable for mid- to long-term storage:
Only those red wines with sufficient tannins and acidity will last longer than a couple of years. This tends to rule out lighter wines (like Beaujolais Nouveau for example) and most of the cheaper red wines. As a very rough guide, wines costing under £8.00 are unlikely to stand up to longer storage. Among the best bets for red wines suitable for laying down are:
Vintage port
(but not LBV or “ordinary” ruby or tawny ports)
Red Bordeaux
(perhaps only those costing more than £10 from this expensive area)
Other Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot based wines
(from the USA, Australia, Chile, etc.)
Red Burgundy
(but only the finest, of Premier Cru level or above)
Wines of the Northern Rhône
such as Hermitage, Côte-Rotie and Cornas
From Spain, better Riojas and from Italy, better Chiantis, Barolos and Barbarescos.
White wines suitable for mid to long term storage:
The vast majority of white wine is made for short term drinking – within a year or two of vintage date. A few whites can reward patience, and those include:
Fully sweet white wines
(particularly botrytis wines of Sauternes in France, and German wines of Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese quality)
Better white Burgundies and other chardonnays
(again, maybe only those costing over £10.00 as a general rule of thumb)
Vintage champagne
will cellar for several years, but it is ‘ready to drink’ whenever you but it. I am a big fan of aged Champagnes, but not everyone is. I tend to find rosé wines, including Champagne, are best drunk young.
The picture shows wines in a traditional cellar, which would be naturally cool (around 10° – 12°C), with no wild fluctuations in temperature and would be dark and is free from vibrations. In addition, it is relatively humid: that’s what has caused the mould to grow on these old bottles. These conditions are ideal for cellaring wines, but would be uncomfortable for humans. Modern homes are rather unfriendly places in which to cellar wine.
Notice that the bottles are placed horizontally into racks. This is vital for all wines bottled with a cork that are being stored for more than a few months. Keeping the bottles horizontal means that the cork is kept in contact with the liquid, preventing it from drying out. If the bottles are left upright, the cork will eventually shrink, allowing air to enter and quite quickly spoiling the wine. One of your first purchases should be a simple rack that will let you store your bottles on their sides. There is some debate over whether Champagne needs to be stored on its side, and wines closed with a screwcap do not, however horizontal racking is often the most efficient way to store wine.
Despite the inhospitable environment outlined above, it is possible to find a place with adequate (if not ideal) conditions in a modern home, if a few simple points can be observed: constant temperature is far more important than absolute coolness. Ideally, an unheated cupboard where the central heating will not be constantly raising and lowering the temperature. If you can keep the temperature down below around 17° celsius (most living rooms are around 21°), so much the better. Unless very well insultated, garages and sheds are not a good idea, as these freeze in winter and over-heat in summer. A variety of wine storage cabinets are available: special refrigerated units that control temperature, humidity and light.
Dark conditions will avoid the wine’s fine colour being spoiled, so again an under-stairs cupboard might be a possible choice, but in any event try to ensure the wine is not in direct sunlight.
Freedom from vibration is important. Constant agitation doesn’t give the wine time to rest and mature slowly. Don’t site your wine rack next to the spin-dryer!
A humidity level of around 80% is ideal for wine, but feels positively damp for humans. If your wine is kept for a long time in too dry a place the cork can dry out, which might prematurely age the wine.
Strong smells can taint the wine over long periods of storage – another reason why the kitchen, garage or coal-cellar might not be the ideal space for very fine wines.
Another aspect that you should learn more about if you plan to build up your own cellar, is the effect that vintage conditions play on the suitability of wines for laying down. Many wine books publish vintage charts that show the quality and the ‘ageability’ of each vintage for each of the important wine regions. For example, 1990 was a superb vintage in Bordeaux and many of the wines will last for 20 years or more. On the other hand, 1991 was a wash-out: many of the wines from the same producers are best drunk in the first half dozen years of their life.
Some people will worry obsessively about serving wine at exactly the correct temperature, in exactly the right glass. But there is no doubt that there are certain sensible guidelines for serving wine that should ensure your enjoyment of every bottle is enhanced.
Serving temperature
Most authorities agree that there is an optimum temperature for the enjoyment of various styles of wine. Red wines can seem very flat and lacking in taste and scent if served too warm. That is one of the problems with the commonly quoted ‘Room temperature’ rule: unfortunately, the meaning of room temperature was very different when this rule was established – before the days of insulated walls, fitted carpets, double glazing and central heating. The living rooms of modern houses are often maintained at too high a temperature for red wines.
To the left is a reference chart proposed by the wine writer Hugh Johnson for the ideal serving temperature for various styles of wine. The best and easiest advice is probably not to worry too much for your everyday wines. If serving a special red wine, leave it in a hallway or cool cupboard for a few hours before serving, rather than the heat of your kitchen. If serving an expensive white, put it in the fridge for just half an hour rather than leaving it overnight to chill too much. White wines should generally be served cool rather than freezing cold. Certainly, the temperature of a domestic refrigerator is too cold for many finer white wines at around 5°C. At this temperature even great wines can taste dull and insipid.
Decanting wine
Red wines are sometimes decanted before serving. Not all reds need decanting, only those that have thrown a sediment in the bottle or need to be exposed to air in order to “open them up”.
Some wines (most of the finest red wines and vintage Ports, for example) are bottled without filtration. This means that small particles remain in the wine. These particles – tannins, yeast cells, microscopic pieces of organic matter – are entirely harmless, but are unpleasant if poured into your glass. For such wines decanting into a clean vessel prior to serving is the best solution.
To decant a wine, the bottle should be stood upright for a day or two before opening to allow the sediment to settle in the bottom. Then, use a steady, gentle motion to pour the wine into a clean vessel, leaving the last centimetre or so of wine in the bottle, along with all the sediment. If you can pour the wine with a light source behind the neck of the bottle even better: then you can easily see as sediment starts to flow towards the neck.
The idea of “letting the wine breathe” by decanting it and leaving it for a few hours before serving is to expose the wine to air, which will soften it and mellow any harsh tannins. This is an inexact science, and only needs to be done if you are sure the wine is too young and would benefit from the procedure.
Glassware
Serving wine in suitable glassware can make a huge difference. If you have ever tried drinking wine out of a thick rimmed pottery mug you will know what I mean! Once again, a sensible approach is needed here: some people insist that there is a specific glass for every type of wine, so chardonnay should be served in a chardonnay glass, riesling in a riesling glass, Rioja in a Rioja glass, and so on. There are specialist companies such as Riedel and Zalto who manufacture an enormous range of expensive and beautiful glasses for this purpose.
The basic requirements though, are actually a lot simpler:
1. The glass should taper towards the top, so that the aromas are trapped in the glass
2. The bowl should be large enough to allow you to swirl the contents
3. The glass must have a stem so the heat of your hand does not transfer to the wine
4. The glass should be plain and clear so you can see the colour of the wine.
As long as your glassware follows these basic rules, it should be ideal for enjoying your wine. Be careful to rinse your glasses carefully after washing, as traces of detergent can taint a wine quickly.
Preserving left over wine
The two great enemies to wine are oxygen and heat. If a half finished bottle is left uncorked in a warm room overnight, it will almost certainly have lost its freshness and flavour by the morning. The wine has reacted to the air and heat and has started to oxidise, taking on a stale, flat character. There are various opinions on how best to preserve open bottles for short periods, and various products on the market that claim to do so.
One useful system involves a canister containing an inert gas. The gas is squirted into the bottle, forming a protective barrier from the air, then the bottle is stoppered. These systems are quite effective and claim to do no damage to even the finest, most delicate wines. An inexpensive option is a device called the Vacu-vin. This is a small pump and a collection of rubber stoppers. A stopper is placed in the half empty bottle, the pump is placed over it, and the air is drawn from the bottle until the stopper seals. In theory you have removed the air, causing a vacuum, which should help preserve the wine. I find that this method has mixed results – some wines stand up to overnight storage better than others – but is an inexpensive option that has some effect.
Devices have started to appear on the market, like Coravin, that insert a needle through the cork and wine is withdrawn whilst inert gas is simultaneously pumped in – so the cork is never actually removed. These devices claim to keep wines in optimum condition for months, but are expensive to buy and a need a supply of cartridges of gas.
A simple solution is to keep a couple of empty half bottles clean and ready to be used. By pouring the remains of a half finished full bottle into a half bottle, you automatically exclude oxygen. A simple cork should keep the wine fresh for a short period.
Some people swear by freezing half finished bottles. They claim that months later, if allowed to slowly and naturally defrost, the wine tastes as fresh as the moment it was frozen.
I hope that this course has increased your interest in wine. The aim of the course was not to ‘preach’ about the rights and wrongs of wine, nor to encourage wine snobbery. Wine is such an endlessly fascinating subject, and there is so much to learn, that no one should ever feel that they know it all.
From what we have learned on the course I hope you are encouraged to experiment a little and that you have picked up useful tips that will let you approach wine with confidence. More importantly, I hope you will obtain maximum enjoyment from every glass.
At the end of the day, taste in wine is totally subjective: no one can tell you that your tastes or opinions are wrong. Don’t feel intimidated by wine as an academic subject – just enjoy it!
Back to Part I – What is wine?
