Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [115]
Many wineries have sought to combat the problem of corkiness by using the synthetic corks mentioned above, but their merits are the subject of some intense debate in the wine world. A few wineries think synthetics give an undesirable smell to the wine, and others say they don’t provide the right conditions for a wine meant to age and develop in the bottle. I think synthetic corks are fine for everyday wines meant for consumption within a few years of the vintage.
Waiter’s tip: Never serve a bottle of wine that hasn’t been checked for spoilage (tasted by the customer or sommelier, if you have one), and always bring a fresh glass for this purpose, even if you are serving a second bottle of the same wine. The reason is simple: If the second bottle is flawed, topping up glasses with the bad bottle ruins what has already been poured. Sometimes guests will say “Just serve it,” but don’t. In those situations, smile and say, “Certainly, I’ll just confirm that it’s in good condition for you.” Then quickly take a clean glass, pour a splash, and smell it. If all’s clear, you can serve it right up, and if not, you can catch the problem and bring a different bottle.
WHAT IS CORK?
Cork is the bark of a species of cork oak trees grown mostly in Spain and Portugal (the main source of the world’s wine corks). The bark is stripped from the tree, and the corks are stamped out like cookies with a cookie cutter, then processed (cleaning, imprinting, etc.). The bark then grows back, and after about nine years, the tree is ready to yield a new harvest of corks.
Serving Wine
I am often asked about wineglasses. The main concerns are whether it’s necessary to have different wineglass shapes for different kinds of wine, and whether the glasses have to be expensive to be good.
WINEGLASSES—WHAT SIZE? WHAT SHAPE? Most of us lack the storage space and patience to hassle with a bunch of different wineglasses, and you don’t need to. The classic wineglasses are a balloon shape for red wines and a tulip shape for whites, but one good, all-purpose glass, whether tulip- or balloon-shaped, is perfectly great for drinking just about any wine.
The main feature you want is ample size, around twelve to fourteen ounces. This isn’t to accommodate more wine, though—only fill halfway or even less. Both classic shapes are designed to be filled to the widest part of the bowl, to equal about a five- or six-ounce glassful. The wide bowl of the balloon-shaped glass for reds is designed to provide a broader surface area to aerate the red wines once poured. The extra capacity also gives you enough room for swirling the wine, as well as leaving head space in the glass so the scents can collect there and enhance the experience.
A good wineglass should also have a clear bowl (the facets and etching of the classic wedding crystal complete with the color and shimmer of the wine) and most important, a thin rim. Here’s why: A thin rim allows you to “pour” each sip so it slides effortlessly onto your palate. The wine’s scents vaporize as you breathe through your nose, triggering the olfactory response that launches its flavor. With a rolled jelly jar-type rim, you draw each sip over the rim by sucking, which pushes each breath into your windpipe—but there are no smell receptors therre! So you miss much of the wine’s secnt, and thus its complexity and flavor.
What about all the other wineglass shapes and sizes? Some wineglass makers produce different shapes specifically tailored to a multitude of different wine types beyond white and red—there are glasses for Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti, Sauternes, and the list goes on. For the wine drinker who enjoys a variety of tastes, it certainly seems like a way to entice them to buy a variety of crystal glasses, but do these glasses