Whether you are serving wine to friends at a cocktail party, or just passing around a new label for people to taste, it is important to know basics of storing and serving wine. In order to enjoy the true taste of wine, it has to be stored and served at the right temperature; in fact, the type of the glass it is served in also makes a huge difference to someone's wine-tasting experience! There's a lot to learn before you become an expert, but remember these tips the next time you serve wine, and you'll thank me for it!

For some more expert tips, check out Wine & Words at Swirling Notions.

Storing The Wine
The refrigerator is too cold for wine storage and room temperature is too warm. Therefore, if you do not have a wine cellar under your house, you will probably need to purchase an appliance that holds wine in a case at the proper temperature. Such wine cases are plentiful, affordable and easy to find. You should keep your wine storage box in a dark place because UV rays also break down important molecules in wine. Consequently, if you plan to keep wine for more than a month, you should plan to keep it stored in a dark cool place.

Wine Temperatures
When it is time to drink your wine, you should know what temperature to serve your wine. If you are serving white wine, the best temperature is between 60 and 68 degrees, as too cold and you will probably lose many of the flavors in the wine.

If you are serving red wine, you should serve it at about 70 degrees. If you are serving wine that you have properly stored at 55 to 60 degrees, be sure to allow enough time for the wine to warm up before serving it.

Wine Glasses
When you serve your wine, you will want to know what kind of glass will enhance the flavor of the wine the most. This may sound ridiculous, but its actually true! If you are serving white wine, your glasses should be narrow, with the bowl barely wider than the rim of the glass. You want less air warming up the white wine, hence the choice of a narrower glass.

For serving red wine, your glasses should have a wider bowl. For full-bodied Cabernets and Merlots, your glass should be taller than your glass for a lighter and fruitier Pinot Noir. Contrary to white wine, you should use wider but shorter glasses to serve Red Wine.

As I said before, the subject of understanding wines is expansive and complex; but you do not need to learn everything, unless you aim to be a wine connoisseur. However, these few simple tips about how to store and serve wine, what are the proper wine temperatures, and what kind of wine glasses to use while serving, will make your entertaining experience more fulfilling, because you'll get many extra compliments about how good was the wine you served!

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