1. Never smell the cork
When the waiter opens the bottle and presents you with the cork on a small platter, it is not for you to smell it as most people do. When you smell a cork the only thing you can smell is cork itself, not the aroma of the wine or what ever people say they are smelling. The cork is presented so that you can examine that it has a proper brand stamp of the winary on it so that you know that the bottle wasn't tempered with.
2. Champagne is not meant to pop open
The winners of formula one races do it, in movies they do it when they celebrate, most people do it at home cause they have seen it done watching tv... But the truth is, champagne bottle is, if you are playing by enologist rules, not meant to pop. The champagne bottle is closed with larger cork that keeps all the air inside, and the cork widens over time (thus the funny shape), and it will pop if you don't hold it. But the faster it opens the faster air goes into bottle and more wine is spilled and all the bubbles will soon disappear. If you open the bottle slow, by turning the cork clock wise wile firmly holding it and the bottle it will open without a pop or flying cork and the sparkling part of champagne will stay in the wine and the taste will be batter. So if you don't want to waste the overflowing precious wine or to just open it for the sake of fun, don't let the cork fly through the roof.
3. Holding the glass
There are several reasons why wine glasses are not held by the bowl, but by the stem or base. First thing is that you leave the finger marks on the crystal. Second reason is that if you hold it by the bowl you will warm the wine with your hand and thus compromise on it's taste.Third and last, have you ever tried to cheer while holding the glass by the stem? If you haven't than you don't know that the clinking sound is only heard when you hold the glass properly.
4. Decanting the wine
There is no rule that says you can't pore any wine into a decanter. But the process of decanting is effective only with stronger older red wines, and this is why. When the wine is older and you open it, at first you will be able to smell just alcohol and none of the wines fragrances. So for the wine to breath you pore it into decanter and swirl it a bit to let all the extra alcohol to evaporate. It is similar like with perfumes. The other reason is related to cork crumbling and possible sediments. If there are some in the bottle, you can't see them. So the decanter is once again useful cause of it's unique shape. If there are sediments in the wine, when you pore it from the decanter they will stay in it instead finishing in your glass.
5. Tasting the wine in restaurants
When you order the wine in a nice restaurant, the waiter will serve you the wine in this manner:
- show you the label on the bottle
- open the wine
- present you the cork (see fact no 1.)
- pore only one sip of wine in the glass of the person who had chosen it
Then there are only two options. If the wine is good, as in most cases is, the waiter will pore it to everyone else. The second, rather rare, outcome would be that the wine is somehow not good, in which case the bottle would be replaced. So, if you were wondering if you could return the wine if you don't like it, the answer is NO. Only if the wine has gone bad or sour you can exchange the bottle.
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