With the holidays here, there’s no shortage of occasions to be merry and to drink delicious SPARKLING wine! After all, what goes better with turkey and stuffing than a glass of fizzy deliciousness? Whether you’re looking to impress your in-laws or just hang out with your favorite folks, these 10 tips will help you make your SPARKLING wine taste even better—no champagne flute required!
Remove the Sediment From Your Wine
When you buy a bottle of sparkling wine, there is usually sediment at the bottom. Inexpensive wines will include more sediment than fine wine, but nonetheless, it’s important that you pour your bubbly through a special strainer to remove any particles of carbon dioxide and tartrates.
Don’t Chill Sparkling Wine; Serve it Chilled.
There’s a reason why it’s so fun to pop open a bottle of Champagne. The fizzy stuff is sparkling, which means it bubbles and effervesces like crazy when you open it. So while you might think that those bubbles dissipate if you chill sparkling wine, they don’t; chilled champagne will still gush out like Alka-Seltzer when you uncork it.
Try Different Wine Glasses that the Wine Experts Use
While there is no scientific evidence to support it, most wine experts will tell you that glass shape matters. In particular, a tall-stemmed glass will allow your nose room to really swirl and sniff in all of your wine’s aromas.
Ice Doesn’t Ruin Sparkling Wine Cocktails. It Improves Them.
A lot of people are convinced that you shouldn’t chill sparkling wine. In fact, some believe chilling any wine ruins it. Not so fast! Sparkling wine cocktails can be chilled, but there’s a proper way to do it: If you chill a sparkling wine too cold—like straight from your freezer—it will taste diluted and flat. So what’s a better way? Slow and easy is the way to go!
Warm Glasses Ruin Sparkling Wines
When you pour a glass of sparkling wine, do you notice that it smells different from when it was in its bottle? Maybe it tastes flat or has less carbonation. The culprit here is cold: pouring sparkling wine into a chilled glass causes some of its carbonation to disappear. To avoid serving wines flat, you should also keep glasses out of direct sunlight and rinse them with warm water before serving.
Open Bottles of Wine Need Their Own Storage Spot
We’ve all been there—you pull out a bottle of wine for an afternoon lunch with friends, only to find that it tastes off when you take your first sip. It turns out that storing open bottles of wine is slightly different than corked or sealed ones. Since carbon dioxide must remain in contact with its liquid environment at all times, opened bottles need their own special spot in order to keep them tasting fresh and fizzy!
Keep Sparkling Wines on Their Sides in the Fridge
To keep sparkling wines at their best, make sure that you keep them on their sides in your refrigerator. Prosecco, cava, and other similar wines should be kept on their sides for maximum freshness. To ensure that your wine stays fresher for longer, we recommend decanting it when you take it out of your fridge – by doing so, you’ll help maintain its carbonation and ensure that it tastes as good as possible!…
The Same Bottle of Wine May Taste Different on Different Days
Don’t get upset if your wine tastes different one day than it did on another. There are a few reasons why wines may taste different—the most common is simply due to temperature. To ensure that your bottle tastes as close to its best as possible, try keeping it at 50°F or cooler. A good temperature for reds is about 55°F and for whites around 45-50°F.
Aged Sparkling Wines Are Not Worth The Money; They Taste Terrible!
Aged sparkling wine that’s aged for a long time loses its sparkle but gains a lot of acidity and bitterness. If you’re looking for an aged wine, consider buying Burgundy instead; they have more structure and don’t lose their fizz over time!
Drink Wine From The Source (Don’t Use Plastic)
Most of us don’t think twice about drinking from plastic water bottles. However, it is important to remember that those air pockets in a bottle of sparkling wine aren’t there for decoration. When you drink from a plastic (or any other form) beverage container, you are sucking out all of that CO2 and killing your wine’s delicate bubbles (we know…sad but true). To get every last fizz out of your bubbles, drink wine straight from its source.
