Easy Themes
for a Perfect
Fall Gathering
Though entertaining with wine at home can be as simple as popping a few bottles and digging into a good bag of chips (and yes, we love that pairing), leveling-up the creativity on your wine hangouts in October and beyond is super simple and needn’t drain your wallet.
Ideas for a Memorable
October Gathering
How about going deep on discovery (and maybe a few plates of smoked chipotle chicken wings) with volcanic wines from places like Greece or Sardinia? Or juicy burgers with fizzy wines from around the world? What about star athlete-made wines perfect for a sports-driven sofa soirée, or moody wines that hit the right notes for a Halloween movie binge fest? Here are some ideas—and wines—that will make your October gathering memorable.
WINE TIPS 101
Wine Hacks For Easier Enjoyment
The nuts and bolts of wine serving, entertaining and appreciation are a lot less complicated than you might think. At the end of the day, do and drink as you like, but here are a few tips to make your at-home or off-site wine experience great.
Match Your Taste With
Wines In A Few Clicks
We like the Wine4.Me search because it takes the guesswork out of choosing wine, allowing users to make a few easy taste and style selections and then matching them with wines that fit the profile. Their team tastes thousands of wines and categorizes them to make wine discovery easy.
Buying Wine
Most of us know how awkward it feels to stand in front of a wall of two hundred wines with foreign names and expensive price tags and have no idea what to do. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Getting comfortable with buying wine starts with choosing the right wine shop. Forget the stuffy places. At the same time, don’t necessarily opt for a big, impersonal discount store. Most discount stores employ people who know next to nothing about wine. You want someplace different from either of these—a place that lets you browse, ask questions (and get answers); —a place where, over time, you can get to know one or two of the staff well enough to trust them to point out new and exciting wines.
The internet has of course helped immensely in this regard. You can consider wines at your own pace and read information about them. It’s utterly convenient. But what the internet isn’t very good at is inspiring you to try something new. And that’s the only way to broaden your scope and get really comfortable with wine. Don’t forget: The best way to learn nothing about wine is to continue to drink what you already know you like.
Storing Wine
The ancient Greeks mixed wine with honey (sugar acts as a preservative), poured olive oil on top of it (as a barrier to air), and stored it in large ceramic amphorae buried in the ground to keep the wine cool. For thousands of years, wine lovers have been motivated to store wine in a way that keeps preserves it as wine, rather than expensive vinegar. Aging a wine still seems like the right thing to do with a moderately expensive wine bottle, even though most inexpensive modern wine is not meant to be aged at all.
3 BASIC RULES
Wine doesn’t care if it’s stored in a $20,000 custom-built cellar, in the basement, or between shoes in your closet, as long as three things are true:
The environment is cool
Storage temperature matters because it can dramatically affect the rate at which chemical changes take place as the wine matures. Wines forced to mature too quickly show a sharp, exaggerated curve of awkward development, followed by dramatic deterioration. In a hot room, a fine wine can be shoved so quickly through the stages of aging that it begins to unravel. In order to evolve, a fine wine must mature slowly, over a long period of time. Scientists say this happens best when wines are kept at about 55°F (13°C). For less expensive, every-night wines, a constant temperature of 70°F (21°C) or even a bit higher is fine, as long as there are no dramatic swings in temperature.
The bottle is lying on its side or upside down (not standing upright)
In storing wine, the position of a bottle is also important. When a wine bottle is stored upright, the cork begins to dry out and shrink. Again, this may eventually allow oxygen to slip between the cork and the neck of the bottle. A bottle is best kept on its side or upside down, so that the cork, moist with the wine, stays swollen against the neck of the bottle.
There is no direct sunlight
Sunlight is harmful because of lightstrike, a condition whereby intense ultraviolet light damages the wine, leading to off aromas that are often compared to boiled cabbage or stagnant drain water. Wines bottled in clear glass bottles——like many rosés and sparkling wines—— are especially prone to lightstrike. This is why the best wine stores don’t display wine in the windows, unless those bottles are dummies that are not going to be sold. And while sunlight is the worst culprit; lightstrike can also occur as a result of prolonged fluorescent light exposure.
Check back soon for more wine tips!
How To Choose Wine
We like the Wine4.Me search because it takes the guesswork out of choosing wine, allowing users to make a few easy taste and style selections and then matching them with wines that fit the profile. Their team tastes thousands of wines and categorizes them to make wine discovery easy.
How To Taste Wine
Fall’s earthy and warming foods are a great match for red wine, but it’s time to swap out the usual suspects for some of the wine world’s most exciting (but largely under-the-radar) still and fortified reds. Present your guests with the wine world’s insider picks from places like Croatia, Michigan, Patagonia and the country of Georgia, paired with quick seasonal plates that can be made in less than 20 minutes.
