No-Sweat Answers to Some Basic Wine Questions

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The first and most important thing to know about drinking wine is this: There are no rules.

For an experience that ought to be entirely pleasurable, many people spend far too much time fearing that they are doing it wrong. This is especially true of people new to wine, who often find the onslaught of well-meaning advice and prescriptions to be intimidating and off-putting.

Here’s the reality: Over many years, wine experts have developed a set of best practices. These are based on experience and tradition. For example, they have found that good wine is generally more expressive when poured properly into a stemmed glass rather than a teacup or tumbler.

From that simple insight arises a host of worries. What glass should I use? How much wine to pour into it? How do I hold the glass? What if I don’t have the right ones?

All good questions. Yet, none of the answers are so meaningful that they should diminish the enjoyment of the single most important act: Pouring wine into a glass — any glass, even a teacup — and drinking it.

What follows is not quite a primer, but answers to some common wine questions. All have their best practices. None have serious consequences for not following them.

SERVING WINE

Which Glasses?

Any vessel that holds liquids can be used to drink wine. Tumblers and juice glasses are fine if you are enjoying simple wines at home or with friends. Fancy, expensive wines will still taste good in them, too, although they taste even better in good stemmed glasses. If you care enough to want to learn about wine, stemmed glasses are a great investment, as they will permit complex wines to express aromas and flavors to their best advantage.

How Much to Pour?

Fill smaller glasses one-third of the way — never more than half — and bigger glasses, maybe a quarter. This allows aromas to fill the bowl and offers room in the glass to swirl, as many people do, believing it helps to release aromas. In tumblers, pour whatever amount you like. I’m not a fan of stemless bowls, but if you like them, treat them as you would stems.

How to Hold a Wineglass?

Ideally, hold it by the stem, which keeps the wine from being warmed by your hand and prevents finger smudges. But if you grab the bowl, no big deal; it’s not going to change the wine. And don’t be the snob telling others how to hold a glass unless they seek your advice.

How Long Is Wine Good After Opening?

That depends. A traditionally made wine will be good for at least several days after it’s opened, maybe even longer. You will not need any special equipment such as vacuum pumps. Just keep the bottle in a cool place out of direct sunlight, or in the refrigerator. A processed wine, constructed and manipulated with technology and additives, will fall apart much more quickly. Refrigerate and hope for the best.

What About Sparkling Wines?

The same holds for bubbly. If it is skillfully and traditionally made, it can keep for days without losing energy or effervescence. A wine made poorly or overly manipulated will die. A good sparkling-wine stopper is nice to have, but in a pinch, you can close a bottle with aluminum foil, fitted snugly around the opening. Foil is far superior, though more wasteful, than the folk trick of inserting a metal spoon, handle down, in the opening, which has been discredited.

Can Red Wines Be Chilled?

Absolutely. Most reds are served too warm. The old saw that they should be served at room temperature was probably written by somebody with a chilly manor house. All reds should be at least slightly cool, and reds that are simple thirst-quenchers high in acidity can be served colder than that. In general, reds that are more tannic or complex should be served cool but not cold. Still, what’s the worst that can happen if they are too cold? Let them warm up, or wrap your hands around the bowl of the wineglass to impart some heat.

I’m Not an Expert. How Do I Know What Wine to Buy?

The absolute best method for choosing better wines is to consult the experts face to face, not those on apps. For retail, that means visiting the best wine shops near you instead of supermarkets and soliciting advice from merchants. It’s good to have some basic information ready: Know your budget. Mention if the bottle is for a particular occasion — to accompany sushi or a roast chicken. Keep a list on your phone of wines you have liked, which may offer clues to styles you appreciate. At restaurants, ask the sommelier for advice. Again, be clear about your budget.

Won’t Sommeliers Try to Upsell Me?

They might. But good restaurants count on return customers. Taking advantage of people builds resentment, not loyalty. It helps to be firm with your budget but, at the same time, to be a little flexible if possible. The best wine for you may cost a tad more than your budget, or sometimes a bit less. A sommelier offering options is not the same as one trying to exploit you. In the end, it’s your decision, so don’t hesitate to politely say no if your budget is firm.

How Do I Describe Wine?

Here we get into some difficult territory. Taste and smell are a frontier for describing what you sense. The overly specific references people sometimes use tend to be more meaningful as personal memory aids than for communicating preferences. In speaking to merchants or sommeliers, you are better off staying general. Saying you love big, fruity red wines is clearer than saying you like wines that taste like cherry pie and road tar.

Here are some other useful generalities:

Dry: This means that all the sugar in the fruit has been fermented into alcohol. The wine will not taste sweet, except in Champagne, which has its own lexicon. When, in other contexts, you would say dry, the word in Champagne is brut.

Off-Dry: Slightly sweet.

Sweet: You know this one. The wine will taste sweet.

Fruity: Not the same as sweet, although the industry has sometimes blurred the difference to avoid calling a wine sweet, which has bad connotations with some people. Fruity means as it sounds, tasting like fruit, often extravagantly so. Confusion also arises with ultraripe wines that can be both fruity and high in alcohol, which can give the impression of sweetness even if the wine is dry.

Savory: A general term for wines that convey aromas and flavors other than sweetness or fruitiness, including floral, herbal, stony, and saline.

(Author: Eric Asimov)/(c.2021 The New York Times Company)