What's Laird Drinking Now?

How can I enjoy better wine?

The truth is, you can enjoy the wine you?re currently drinking more, by simply upgrading some of your utensils, keeping temperature in mind, and having an open mind.

1.) Utensils: A good wine key and at least four good wine stems are important. These need not cost a fortune. A basic tulip shaped stem with a wide base, 14 oz (or better) bowl, and thin rims will do fine. Try Speiglau, Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, Masterpiece Crystal, or Oneida just to name a few. A good stem is not quite as important as the wine itself, but it is not far behind.

2.) Proper temperature: This is a big one. When the old adages about white wine being chilled and red wine served at room temperature became gospel, chilled meant 45 - 52 degrees and room temperature meant in the 60's. Today, with refrigerators running 38 degrees and room temperature running around 72 degrees on climate control, whites are served too cold and reds too warm. Over chilling whites makes their flavors clamp up and compact and their aromas almost cease to exist. Reds too warm will come off as flabby and seem more alcoholic (a sensation of heat or burning.) Generally speaking, the lighter the wine is in body, the cooler it should be served. Whites should never be served below 45 to 48 degrees and reds should typically be served in the mid 60's. Now there are exceptions to every rule - but this gives a decent guideline for most wines.

3.) The last most important thought is to keep an open mind. I've served literally tens of thousands of wines, I've never ceased to have been amazed by how many ways there are to surprise people with wines they never would have normally tried or perhaps even thought they would hate. If you have one favorite wine - great! Remember it and buy alot. However, if you think variety is the spice of life, then mean it and try everything you can. In a good year I might taste 5 - 10 profound wines, 10 - 80 really good wines, a few hundred really nice ones. I also taste several hundred to a thousand average to out and out bad wines. The few truly profound ones keep me inspired, however the really good ones are what I can afford once or so a week. The tasty ones are what we enjoy every day. The really bad ones are just as educational as any - and can teach you as much as the profound ones. In other words, knowing what you don't like is just as important in enjoying wine as knowing what you love. Either way - the journey is the thing.

To sum it all up, wine is really about the experience. The wine you're currently drinking may not be the most expensive or even the best bottle out there, but you can get more from it by following these simple tips.

Until the next post...