S I G N AT U R E
/ WINE
A P P R E C I AT I O N
SIP, SWILL, SAVOUR, REPEAT Responsible for more than 350,000 bottles of wine – the largest hotel collection of its kind in the world – the sommelier team at Monaco’s Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo know a thing or two about sipping, cellaring and savouring top drops. Read on for their tips on upping your wine knowledge (and cellaring experience) at home.
What steps should you take when tasting a new bottle? First, bring the wine to the right temperature: 10 to 12 degrees for whites, and 17 to 19 degrees for reds. Open the bottle about 30 minutes before serving: this will give it time to aerate, which is good for most wines. If it’s a big white or a red, using a decanter is a great option. But be careful – older wines don’t handle rebottling very well, so if you use a decanter, you’re drinking the whole thing! How do you choose the right wine glass? Ideally, the bowl shouldn’t be too big – 20 centilitres is good. A big glass can go well with a young wine, which can handle lots of aeration, but it may wear out an older wine.
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