Wine Tips:

• Cellaring

• Travelling

• Chilling White Wine

• Ordering Wine in Restaurants
  
  Serving Wines
• 
  

Home Wine Cellar

1. Constant temperature: Somewhere between 14 and 15 degrees, with very little variation in the temperature, is the ideal.
2. Constant humidity level: The ideal range is between 60 and 70 per cent. Low humidity dries out the corks; high humidity encourages mould.
3. No vibrations or disturbance: Don’t move your bottles unless you have to; the floor surface and racks should be very stable.
4. No light: UV light oxidises wine, affecting taste and colour.
5. Low ventilation: Fast-moving air currents can vary the temperature in parts of the cellar too quickly.
6. Easy access and management: In a well-managed cellar, bottles don't need
   to be moved until they are needed -
   and the cellar is restocked as fast as it is emptied so that it never runs dry.
7. Good security: Many cellars are filled with investment wines that are worth tens of thousands of dollars. A decent home security system should also cover the cellar and your comprehensive insurance polaicy extended to include the value of your wines.

 

Travelling with Wine

You may be surprised to learn that wine should be treated pretty sensitively in the car.  The basic rule? If you wouldn’t do it to your kids, don’t do it to your wine!
What do we mean specifically?
Don't put wine in the boot- If you're thinking of taking your wine on a road trip, remember, just like the kids, your wine can get a little car sick. Number one rule: don't stick your wine in the boot. Keep it inside the car where the air con will keep it cool and comfy.
Keep wine out of the sun - Whether you buy a cork top or screw top, keep ALL wine bottles out of the sun. Wine left in a parked car on a hot day can expand and force the cork out.  
Securely pack your wine - Try not to let wine bottles roll around too much in the car. Both light and movement can speed up the ageing process considerably. Cases travel better than loose bottles and are a lot easier to transport. You might even find you can strap a case in with seatbelts.
Let wine settle - Once you get home, resist the urge to guzzle your wine straight away. Just like we feel the effects of jet lag, your wine can suffer a kind of car lag and may need a few days to recover from travel "bottle shock" for optimum performance.

Chilling White Wine Quickly

Tip 1: How to Chill a Bottle Fast
It's a hot late summer's day and several thirsty friends have just popped around unannounced. Unfortunately for you, you finished off your last cold bottle of white yesterday. Not a problem! Simply stick your wine bottle in a bucket. Fill the bucket half with ice, half with water, covering as much of the bottle as possible. Then add a generous handful of salt to the water: this causes the temperature to drop faster. After ten minutes, the wine will have dropped more than ten degrees.

Tip 2: Once Opened, Wine Lasts...

• 1-2 DAYS for light white and red wines such as Riesling and Pinot Noir; sparkling and pink wines
• 3-4 DAYS for fuller-bodied reds and whites such as Shiraz and Chardonnay; sweet white wines
• 1-2 WEEKS for pale dry Sherry and vintage Port
• 3 MONTHS for tawny Port, Muscat, Tokay and sweet Sherry.

Tips 1 and 2 are from Max Allen's, The Really Useful Pocket Wine Book available at Armadale Cellars for $9.95. Book into the cheese and wine matching class April 19th and get one for free!

Ordering Wine in Restaurants

Melbourne is extremely lucky to have a burgeoning supply of amazing culinary institutions with equally extravagant wine lists.  Below are some hints and tips on surviving the world of the wine list (alternatively, book into our food and wine matching courses or palate trainers and astound your friends at dinner parties!).

Tips and Hints for Ordering Wine:

• Don’t be shy about ordering an inexpensive or the least expensive wine on the list.  Sommeliers pride themselves on their inexpensive choices, too
• Order wines that reflect the theme of the food at the restaurant, as they tend to match best with the food.  Example: order Northern Italian wines if in a restaurant specializing in this cuisines (as opposed to ordering, say, Barossa Shiraz)
• Sometimes the more expensive wines on a list can be best value (compared to RRP)  and so ; Drink less! Drink better !
• Always ask for the sommelier and tell him/her what you are eating, what you are willing to spend (and hint whether or not you’re ‘wine adventurous’).  The sommelier should ensure you have a much better dining experience. 
• If you frequent your local restaurant, sometime it pays off ‘big’ to discreetly slip the sommelier a tip (he or she will remember you).

Serving Wines -
The Shape of The Glass DOES Matter FACT: It’s an odd fact that most of our sense of taste is actually our sense of smell supporting our tastebuds. This is why having the right wine glass really matters.Never serve sparkling wine in so-called “champagne” glasses – those shallow bowls on stems. Nothing could be designed to make your fabulous fizz go flatter faster. Good sparkling deserves a tall “flute” glass so that you can enjoy the bubbles and the aromas together.The shape of your glassware can also make a big difference to your enjoyment. The best glasses narrow slightly at the top and should be filled only to the halfway point - i.e., the broadest part of the glass. This allows the wine maximum surface area for its aromas to be released and then trapped in the narrower opening, thus concentrating them for you to savour. Riedel has made it their mission to provide precision tools in the service of wine so that each wine’s finest elements are highlighted by the glass. While a glass cannot alter a fine wine or spirit, it can dramatically alter our perception of it. Armadale Cellars regularly conducts Riedel Masterclasses to explore this notion further. Click here to read more about these events conducted by our very own “David Copperfield” of wine, Luke Campbell. Serving Wines - White Wines
White wines do need to be mildly chilled (as can some lighter red varieties) but don’t overdo it, or you will obscure the fruit flavours of your wines. White wines are refreshing when chilled down to 7° to 12 ° Celsius but get much colder than this and all of the subtle aromas in your wine will be subdued (or non-existent!).
If you’re using an ice bucket to keep wine cool, try mixing half water and ice. This is a much more effective way to chill wine - just make sure to keep a napkin handy to catch the drips.Serving Wines - Red Wines
Many people state that “red wine should be served at room temperature”.
This needs clarification, as room temperature in certain seasons in countries such as Australia can easliy exceed 25° Celsius, which is never a good temperature for serving red wine. Keep this in mind next summer or on these warmer autumn days we've been having. Ideally, red wine should be served between 15° and 18° Celsius. If it's warmer than 18°, place your wine in the fridge for a few minutes before opening and you'll enjoy your wine much more. LEARN THESE WINE TIPS AND MANY MORE IN ONE OF OUR FIVE WEEK WINE COURSES HELD IN OUR UNDERGROUND CELLAR.