This is about where you see someone drinking out of a wine glass with the little finger sticking out like a little aerial. It’s looks a bit daft, doesn’t it? I’ve caught myself doing it plenty of times.
It’s all about how warm or cold you want the wine in your glass. Remember there are “suggested” temperatures to have the wines when you drink them. Roughly speaking you’re looking at:
Sparkling wines, light whites: 10-13 degrees
Heavier whites, light reds: 12-15 degrees
Heavier reds: 15-18 degrees (room temperature)
So things to look out for:
Wine straight out the fridge, is usually way too cold. Most fridges chill to 5 degrees or thereabouts. So give the bottle a bit of time out the fridge before you drink it, otherwise it’ll be too cold to get the tastes and smells out properly.
Wine in the glass gets warm pretty quick if you hold the cup instead of the stem. With white wines and most reds it’s best to just grab hold of the stem bit. You don’t have to stick your pinkie out though.
Room temperature is rarely 15-18 degrees. If you’ve got air conditioning on the go, you might need to warm your reds up a bit. Easy way to do this is to pour yourself a glass and just hold the cup. It’ll warm it up nice enough.
On the other hand, your place can be too warm. I live in a flat with a young family (of lizards I think!) above me and one below me. I spend my time walking round in shorts and t-shirts with the windows open in December, so I have to cool my wines down before I drink them.
You don’t need to stick the little finger out, but do have a think about it next time you pick up your glass.
Cheers
