Wine Tips
Whenever you carry wine in your car during warm weather months, keep the bottles in an upright position and keep them with you in the front of the car, not in the trunk (the trunk gets MUCH hotter). Also, do not leave them in a closed car which is parked in the sun. With excessive temperature, the wine and air inside the bottle will expand and possibly cause leakage of the wine past the cork.
Wine doesn’t care if it’s stored in a $10,000 custom-built cellar, in a damp basement, or between shoes in the closet, as long as three things are true:
- The environment is cool.
- The bottle is lying on its side or upside down (but not standing upright).
- There is no direct sunlight.
If you would like to try your favorite red wine, but don’t plan to finish the bottle, you can serve 1-2 glasses then cork the wine and put in the refrigerator. The chilled temperature will hold the wine for an extra 2 or 3 days. Just remember to let it come back to life at room temperature before serving!
If you do not finish a bottle of red or white within 2 – 3 days….Pour the remainder into ice cube trays. You can them use them for cooking. When choosing what to use your wine cubes in, follow the same rules as you do for pairing. Lighter bodied wines are great with fish and poultry while full bodied reds are Delicious with beef and lamb.
White wine is best when served chilled, although there are those times when you have not been able to chill the wine to your liking, or the temperature outside warms the wine too quickly. Adding ice cubes waters the wine down. An alternative to ice cubes is seedless green grapes. Buy fresh grapes and pop them into the freezer. When you would like to chill your wine simply place a couple of frozen grapes into the wine. It looks beautiful, doesn’t watter down the wine- and their edible!
Have you spilled red wine on your favorite shirt or new carpet? Pour a generous amount of salt on the stain and pat it down. Leave for 10 minutes, then scrape away the salt and thoroughly blot with club soda. For carpeting, dry the area with a paper towel. For linens, wash while still damp.
Come back soon for more wine tips
