Expert Advice

Whether it was inspired from a memorable wine weekend getaway, discovering a new bottle at home with your honey, or the recent Zoom wine tasting you watched, there comes a time when you want to put your creative juices to work, invite over a few close friends and take your enjoyment of food, friends and wine to the next level. Here are a few simple ideas on how to Plan & Pull Off your next Wine Party!

If I have the exceptional pleasure of flying a long haul flight in Business Class, I might get some excitement out of the wine list. But familiar favorites seldom taste the way I am expecting them to taste.

Bored by the standard wine tasting format? Here are some tips to jazz up your enjoyment of wine and provide your guests with a night to remember. These days, wine tasting is a fully fledged leisure activity, from touring wine regions around the world to attending masterclasses and dinners – and, of course, hosting tasting events at home.

If you don’t have a wine cabinet or a proper underground cellar, and that store your wine at room temperature or in an area where temperatures exceed 20 degrees Celsius, your wine will be affected within a couple of months.

“En Primeur” is a French wine trade term for wine which is sold as a “future”, ie. before it is bottled. En Primeur therefore also means buying wine at its very first offering price.

Sixteen years ago a survey ordered by the wine industry found that on average, a bottle of wine in Australia was kept less than 24 hours after its purchase.

There are some things in life that are destined to be together: pen and paper, gin and tonic, tea and biscuits, to name a few. Another pairing that you could add to the list is cheese and wine, and this simple combination is often an intriguing talking point at many evening occasions.

There is a common perception that white wines should be served chilled and red wines at room temperature. However, abiding by this simple rule will probably mean you’ll never really enjoy your wine at its best. Nothing spoils a wine more than serving it at the wrong temperature.

Four key points to remember when selecting wine to cellar:

True or false: “Prior to opening a bottle, I should bring it up from the cellar 48 hours in advance, stand it upright and leave it at room temperature?”

Widely discussed but often misunderstood, cork taint is a single, specific wine fault. Here’s how to identify corked wine – and what you can do about it. Without realizing it, you have probably tasted corked wine. You might have eaten corked bananas too, or even drunk corked coffee. In each case, the same culprit is responsible, a malodorous chemical known as TCA, or trichloroanisole.

Whether you’ve stored it in a cellar for many years, or whether it’s a recent vintage you’ve just acquired, wine will generally enjoy a little breathing time.