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We have many different tabs below to assist you in all areas about wine, from storing it, serving it and the best bit - Drinking it!! |
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Any wines ordered from Premium Wines that you plan to drink over the next few weeks/months, can be left standing up. If you plan to keep them for six months or longer; then lay the bottle down to prevent the corks drying out, if this happens the corks will allow air into the bottle with will in turn spoil the wines. All wines benefit from a little rest between its journeys from us to you, so keep a back up stock in your wine rack so you don’t have to dive straight in to your Premium Wines order as soon as it arrives. As the wines have been shipped in and then straight out of our warehouse to your door step, most wines will benefit from a little rest of a few days to a week. Make sure your storage space or wine rack is away from any heaters or hot water pipes. Also ensure the wines are kept out of direct sunlight, away from vibration and keep at a consistent temperature. As long as the temperature is kept above 1ºC and under 65ºC your wines will remain in perfect condition. Under the stairs, at the bottom of a cupboard is ideal. Even leaving them in the box is not a bad idea either, as the insulation will help them maintain a consistent temperature. If you plan to store your wines for the long term, then to be honest unless you have a cellar or a temperature controlled unit, you would be better having your wines professionally stored. |
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It is basically up to you when you choice to drink any bottle of wine, but here are some useful tips; White wine; Generally white wines are best drunk young, certainly within a year or two of their vintage. There are exceptions to this rule, however. Full bodied whites such as top-quality wines from Burgundy and other big chardonnays will usually gain complexity with age. Good Champagnes also improve in the bottle and Chenin Blanc’s seem to last for years. Red Wines; These days, red wines can be drunk straight away and generally the best wines can keep for years. Red Wine contains Tannin. It comes from the grape skins and acts as a natural preservative. Big traditional red wines such as those big Bordeaux reds have plenty of tannin in them and they can be a bit ‘mouth puckering’ and would benefit from being kept for a few years until the tannins soften enough to drink. See our ‘Vintage Guide’ for more information on when to drink or keep. Also matching the right food with a tannic wine will also help – see our ‘Food & Wine’ tab for more information on food matching. |
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Corks; As time goes on and technology moves forward, we are seeing less and less of the traditional cork. Corks are not essential for most wines, apart from some of those “fine wines” that you wish to keep for a few years or so. Most wines would benefit wines would benefit from a screw top closure. But we like corks, as it is part of the romance and the pleasure we get when we pop a bottle or two! Cork however, can bring unwanted musty smells and flavours to the wine which can obviously ruin them. Some wine makers are now using synthetic corks to stop these musty smells etc from spoiling their wines, but it still gives you the romance of the natural cork. A waiter’s friend is the perfect tool to open any type of cork closure. Just put the spiral screw right through the middle of the cork, to enable it to grip as much of the cork as possible. To open sparkling wines and champagne’s without a struggle or risk of losing some of the bottles contents, just follow these simple tips; Don’t shake the bottle. Once you have removed the foil and wire cage, keep your thumb over the cork at all times and don’t point it at anyone or anything precious. Twist the bottle (not the cork) and slowly remove the cork. There will be a small pop and sigh as you open the bottle rather than a big bang and explosion of wine. Last but not least, serve with style. Put your thumb in the dimple at the bottom of the bottle and pour slowly. Serving Temperature; Nothing ruins the taste of a wine than it being served at the wrong temperature. Crisp, dry whites, roses, sweet and sparkling wines should be chilled for one hour in the fridge. Less chilling allows richer white wines to show their full complexity, so allow just thirty minutes in the fridge for these styles of whites. Heavy reds served too cold will taste too tannic, so make sure you serve at room temperature. Light reds such as Fleurie and Pinot Noir can even benefit from being chilled; around twenty minutes in the fridge should be perfect. TOP TIP – if a white/sparkling wine needs to be chilled quickly, put in an ice bucket/bowl with ice and water, this method is far quicker than putting it in the freezer. Also, if you require warming up a bottle of red in a hurry, then just place it in a bowl of warm water for five minutes or so. Also matching the right food with a tannic wine will also help – see our ‘Food & Wine’ tab for more information on food matching. |
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Acidity – Acid is naturally present in grapes. Too much and it makes the wine too sharp, too little and the wine tastes flabby. Corked – A damp, musty smell that you can sometimes get from the bottle, when the cork is diseased and taints both the taste and the smell – discard the bottle! Mouse - A word often used to describe the light bubblyness of a sparkling wine or champagne. (meaning delicate bubbles as opposed to airy Angel Delight!) Cru – The French word for ‘Growth’ used to refer to the wine of an individual vineyard. Cuvee – A French term for a blended wine or a special selection. Domaine – A wine estate, particularly in the French region of Burgundy. Late–harvest – Late-harvest grapes contain more natural sugar and concentrated flavours, and therefore usually sweet. Demi / Demi Sec - Demi is French for 'medium' and Sec is French for 'Dry'. So, Demi Sec, means ' Medium Dry'. New world – Basically, this is every wine producing country out side of Europe. New world producers usually are more up to speed with new wine making technologies. Old world – These are the traditional wine making countries of Europe, such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany etc. these countries, tend to stick to the traditional wine making methods. Sur Lie – French term for ‘on the lees’, applied to white wines that derive a bit more character from some form of lees contact. Definition of Lees; The sediment from fermentation of an alcoholic beverage. Tannin – Tannin is found in grape skins and stalks. Red wines are usually high in tannin if they are made from grapes with thick skins, or have had a long maceration or contact with the stalks during the fermentation process. Tannins also seep out of oak barrels into the wine. Terroir – Another French word, that refers to the type of soil, climate, drainage and the position of the vineyard. Varietal – Wine made from, and named after, a single grape variety. Vintage – The harvest, and the term given to the wine of a particular year. Yield – Important factor in determining the quality of wine. The lees grapes there are on the vine, the more concentrated the juice, and the wine. For further information, please feel free to contact our team of experts at any time, as we are always happy to assist you! |
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Bits in the bottle; wine is a natural product and naturally it will at times have some bits in it. Most “bits” are removed during the process of wine making, but for every bit removed, results in some flavour being removed. However, generally customers prefer 'bit' free wine, so you can see that this is a little dilemma for us. So at times to make each wine as tasty as possible we take a small risk with the bits. Crystals; are generally not a problem at all. They look like sugar on the cork or bottle but it does not taste like sugar.Though, this is usually a good sign. These are crystals of tartar. Tartaric acid is naturally in all wines. Again this can be removed at the wine making stage, but again it loses some of the wines natural flavours and most wine makers leave it in the wines. Most wines won’t show these crystals, but if they do, just pour carefully and enjoy your wine. However, if you do feel upset by these crystals, we will replace these bottles free of charge. Sediment; We think we should charge extra for sediment! Sediment in wine is never a “dodgy” wine, it is a sign of a great winemaker who refuses to de-nature his/her wine just because supermarkets do not want to take the time of effort to explain this to their customers. TOP TIP: Pour carefully and you can even use the last half a glass or so to make a lovely rich gravy or sauce. |
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